Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $27.25 and last traded at $27.25, with a volume of 301910 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $27.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on RYN shares. StockNews.com raised Rayonier from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 16th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Rayonier from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th.

Rayonier Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company’s 50 day moving average is $31.03 and its 200-day moving average is $30.45. The stock has a market cap of $4.01 billion, a PE ratio of 25.36 and a beta of 1.02.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $211.21 million. Rayonier had a return on equity of 2.95% and a net margin of 15.84%. The company’s revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Rayonier Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Investors 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 107.55%.

Rayonier declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, December 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RYN. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Rayonier by 20.8% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 11,347 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,956 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Rayonier by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 97,820 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,846,000 after buying an additional 1,029 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake 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 worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Rayonier by 0.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,240,608 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,089,000 after acquiring an additional 10,536 shares during the period. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lifted its holdings in Rayonier by 2.3% in the second quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 37,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.12% of the company’s stock.

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.