California Public Employees Retirement System Increases Stock Position in Rayonier Inc. $RYN

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) by 81.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 664,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 298,528 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Rayonier were worth $13,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Rayonier in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Rayonier by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Rayonier by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 1,732 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Bayban acquired a new position in shares of Rayonier during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Rayonier by 74.0% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 2,279 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 969 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.12% of the company’s stock.

Rayonier Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE RYN opened at $21.59 on Friday. Rayonier Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.49 and a twelve month high of $27.33. The stock has a market cap of $6.49 billion, a PE ratio of 7.15 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.53.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.01. Rayonier had a net margin of 68.61% and a return on equity of 3.61%. The company had revenue of $276.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $280.92 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 233.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.36 EPS for the current year.

Rayonier Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on RYN. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Rayonier from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Rayonier from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Rayonier from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Rayonier from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $24.00 target price on shares of Rayonier in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Rayonier currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.60.

Rayonier Company Profile

Rayonier, Inc (NYSE: RYN) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust specializing in timberland ownership and management. The company’s core business revolves around sustainably growing, harvesting, and marketing timber and timber-related products. Rayonier’s timberland portfolio encompasses approximately 2.7 million acres across the United States and New Zealand, focusing on softwood and hardwood fiber for use in paper, packaging and building materials.

Rayonier operates through two primary segments: Timber and Real Estate Solutions.