Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 13,142,039 Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 13,142,039 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $343,007,000. Norges Bank owned 8.82% of Rayonier at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vestcor Inc acquired a new stake in Rayonier during the third quarter valued at $1,749,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Rayonier by 209.6% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 57,289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,843,000 after acquiring an additional 38,783 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Rayonier by 119.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 457,370 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,718,000 after purchasing an additional 249,173 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Rayonier in the 4th quarter worth about $467,000. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Rayonier during the fourth quarter worth approximately $327,000. 89.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RYN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James upgraded Rayonier from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Rayonier from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Rayonier from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Rayonier from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Rayonier from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.00.

Rayonier Price Performance

Rayonier stock opened at $27.83 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Rayonier Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.88 and a 52-week high of $31.62.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.08. Rayonier had a net margin of 28.44% and a return on equity of 3.86%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rayonier announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, December 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.2725 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.92%. Rayonier’s payout ratio is 46.19%.

Rayonier Company Profile

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.