Cohen & Steers Inc. Has $293.33 Million Stock Holdings in Rayonier Inc. $RYN

Key Points

• Cohen & Steers increased its Rayonier stake by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, ending with 13.55 million shares worth about $293.3 million, or roughly 8.39% of the company.
• Rayonier’s stock rose 4.8% and recently traded at $21.86. The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.07, beating estimates, while revenue came in slightly below expectations.
• Rayonier announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 4.8%. Analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a target price of $24.80.

Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN - Free Report) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,548,815 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 717,021 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. owned approximately 8.39% of Rayonier worth $293,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of RYN. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Rayonier by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,174,792 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $458,434,000 after buying an additional 444,503 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Rayonier during the fourth quarter valued at $313,806,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $122,261,000 after buying an additional 3,947,226 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Rayonier by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,689,938 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $101,537,000 after purchasing an additional 467,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Rayonier by 2.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,782,342 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $100,383,000 after purchasing an additional 94,033 shares in the last quarter. 89.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Wayne Wasechek sold 2,920 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.17, for a total value of $61,816.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 115,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,445,770.10. This represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

Rayonier Trading Up 4.8%

Shares of RYN opened at $21.86 on Friday. Rayonier Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.49 and a 1 year high of $27.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.60. The stock has a market cap of $6.57 billion, a PE ratio of 7.24 and a beta of 0.88.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.01. Rayonier had a return on equity of 3.61% and a net margin of 68.61%.The business had revenue of $276.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $280.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.02) EPS. Rayonier's quarterly revenue was up 233.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rayonier Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Rayonier's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RYN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Rayonier from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Rayonier from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $24.00 price objective on Rayonier in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Raymond James Financial raised Rayonier from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Rayonier from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rayonier currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $24.80.

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.

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