First Trust Advisors LP Decreases Stake in Rayonier Inc. $RYN

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP reduced its Rayonier stake by 29.7% in the first quarter, selling 154,152 shares and retaining 364,279 shares worth approximately $7.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 89.12% of RYN.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with Rayonier carrying a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $24.60 after several analysts lowered their targets.
• Rayonier reported quarterly EPS of $0.07, slightly beating expectations, while revenue rose 233.9% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, representing a 4.8% annualized yield.

First Trust Advisors LP cut its stake in shares of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN - Free Report) by 29.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 364,279 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 154,152 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.12% of Rayonier worth $7,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in RYN. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Rayonier by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 12,942 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC increased its holdings in Rayonier by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 78,219 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,693,000 after buying an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Rayonier by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,012 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the period. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. lifted its position in shares of Rayonier by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 10,802 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the period. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rayonier by 49.7% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 1,732 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RYN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings cut Rayonier from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rayonier from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $24.00 target price on shares of Rayonier in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Rayonier from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Rayonier currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $24.60.

Rayonier Stock Performance

Shares of RYN opened at $21.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.53. The company has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.23 and a beta of 0.88. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $21.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.50. Rayonier Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.49 and a 1 year high of $27.33.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $276.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $280.92 million. Rayonier had a net margin of 68.61% and a return on equity of 3.61%. Rayonier's revenue for the quarter was up 233.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.02) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.4 EPS for the current year.

Rayonier Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Rayonier's payout ratio is currently 34.44%.

Rayonier 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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