Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . 829,808 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 2% from the previous session’s volume of 850,806 shares.The stock last traded at $25.27 and had previously closed at $25.69.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Rayonier from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective 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 Rayonier from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 16th. Finally, 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.33.

Rayonier Trading Down 1.8 %

The company has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $27.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.58.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued 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 4.32%. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.31%.

Rayonier announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, December 2nd that allows the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Rayonier

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rayonier in the fourth quarter worth $226,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of Rayonier by 43.8% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 29,283 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 8,918 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Rayonier during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Rayonier by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 17,732 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $463,000 after acquiring an additional 2,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its position in shares of Rayonier by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 37,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,724 shares during the last quarter. 89.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.