Holocene Advisors LP Acquires New Position in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN)

Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 74,573 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,400,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rayonier in the third quarter worth $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Rayonier by 53.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,079 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Rayonier by 165.1% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,079 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rayonier by 539.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Rayonier in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on RYN shares. StockNews.com raised Rayonier from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 16th. Truist Financial upped 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.

Insider Activity at Rayonier

In related news, Director V. Larkin Martin sold 10,011 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.57, for a total value of $306,036.27. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 40,168 shares in the company, valued at $1,227,935.76. This trade represents a 19.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Rayonier Price Performance

NYSE:RYN opened at $31.24 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.64 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50-day moving average is $31.36 and its 200 day moving average is $30.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Rayonier Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.40 and a 12 month high of $35.29.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.01). Rayonier had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 2.95%. The firm had revenue of $195.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.21 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rayonier Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a boost from Rayonier’s previous special dividend of $0.20. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio is currently 107.55%.

Rayonier declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, December 2nd that permits the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.