Hancock Whitney Corp Acquires New Shares in Rayonier Inc. $RYN

Key Points

• Hancock Whitney Corp has acquired a new stake in Rayonier Inc., purchasing 43,351 shares valued at approximately $1.2 million during the first quarter.
• Rayonier recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2725 per share, yielding 4.1%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 16th.
• Analysts have raised Rayonier's price targets, with Citigroup and Royal Bank Of Canada both setting new targets of $27.00 and maintain a "neutral" or "sector perform" rating respectively.

Hancock Whitney Corp acquired a new position in shares of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 43,351 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,209,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Securian Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Rayonier by 4.6% during the first quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,603 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co. increased its stake in Rayonier by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 11,652 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management increased its stake in Rayonier by 5.1% in the first quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 10,509 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Rayonier by 4.5% during the first quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,183 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Timber Creek Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Rayonier by 4.5% during the first quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 13,957 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. 89.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RYN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Rayonier from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Rayonier from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rayonier from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rayonier has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.00.

Rayonier Stock Up 1.9%

Rayonier stock traded up $0.49 on Thursday, hitting $26.67. 333,443 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,090,177. Rayonier Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.84 and a 1 year high of $32.88. The firm has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 3.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $24.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.88.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.03. Rayonier had a net margin of 68.53% and a return on equity of 3.39%. The business had revenue of $106.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.02 earnings per share. Rayonier's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Rayonier Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.2725 dividend. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Rayonier's payout ratio is currently 22.02%.

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.