State Street Corp Acquires 104,464 Shares of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN)

State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,279,512 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 104,464 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned approximately 2.87% of Rayonier worth $137,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Rayonier in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Rayonier by 165.1% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,079 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Rayonier in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Rayonier by 539.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Rayonier by 83.7% during the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,449 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on RYN shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Rayonier from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Rayonier from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, November 16th.

Rayonier Stock Performance

Shares of RYN stock traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $28.83. The company had a trading volume of 706,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 581,905. The company has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of 27.20 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.85. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $31.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.47. Rayonier Inc. has a one year low of $27.40 and a one year high of $35.29.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.01). Rayonier had a return on equity of 2.95% and a net margin of 15.84%. The firm had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.21 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. Rayonier's quarterly revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Rayonier announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, December 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Rayonier Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a $1.80 dividend. This is a positive change from Rayonier's previous special dividend of $0.20. Rayonier's payout ratio is presently 107.55%.

About Rayonier

Rayonier is a leading timberland real estate investment trust with assets located in some of the most productive softwood timber growing regions in the United States and New Zealand. As of December 31, 2023, Rayonier owned or leased under long-term agreements approximately 2.7 million acres of timberlands located in the U.S.