Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) Short Interest Up 34.9% in March

Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 8,719,309 shares, an increase of 34.9% from the February 26th total of 6,462,151 shares. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,588,248 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Rayonier Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE RYN traded up $0.29 on Monday, reaching $20.60. The company had a trading volume of 2,282,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,373,377. The firm has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.75 and a beta of 0.98. Rayonier has a fifty-two week low of $19.49 and a fifty-two week high of $28.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $21.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 3.26 and a quick ratio of 3.23.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $117.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $108.71 million. Rayonier had a return on equity of 4.09% and a net margin of 97.94%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. Analysts forecast that Rayonier will post 0.55 EPS for the current year.

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on RYN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Rayonier from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Rayonier from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Rayonier in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Rayonier from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Rayonier from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Rayonier presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rayonier news, Chairman Eric J. Cremers sold 169,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.44, for a total transaction of $3,627,648.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 709,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,213,459.52. The trade was a 19.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Rayonier in the 4th quarter valued at $313,806,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Rayonier by 232.2% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,647,156 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $122,261,000 after buying an additional 3,947,226 shares during the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new position in Rayonier in the fourth quarter valued at $20,813,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Rayonier by 25.7% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,688,309 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $81,807,000 after acquiring an additional 754,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in Rayonier by 1,088.2% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 790,239 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,528,000 after acquiring an additional 723,732 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.12% of the company’s stock.

About Rayonier

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.