Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) Shares Sold by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its stake in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,680,849 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 101,605 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 2.47% of Rayonier worth $96,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Rayonier in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Rayonier by 59.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,404 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rayonier by 264.6% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Rayonier by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,733 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Rayonier by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.12% of the company’s stock.

Rayonier Stock Performance

Shares of RYN stock opened at $27.83 on Friday. Rayonier Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.88 and a 52 week high of $31.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.2725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.19%.

Rayonier announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.