Impax Asset Management Group plc Cuts Stock Holdings in Rayonier Inc. $RYN

Key Points

• Impax Asset Management trimmed its Q4 stake in Rayonier by 5.3%, selling 61,905 shares and ending the quarter with 1,097,153 shares (about 0.71% of the company) valued at roughly $23.75 million.
• Company insiders have been selling: CFO Wayne Wasechek sold 2,920 shares under a pre‑arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plan to cover taxes, and Chairman Eric J. Cremers sold 169,200 shares, a 19.25% reduction in his holdings.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but cautious, with a MarketBeat consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.50.

Impax Asset Management Group plc trimmed its position in shares of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,097,153 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 61,905 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned approximately 0.71% of Rayonier worth $23,753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Rayonier in the 3rd quarter worth $674,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Rayonier by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,782,342 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $100,383,000 after acquiring an additional 94,033 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Rayonier in the 4th quarter worth $1,112,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Rayonier in the 3rd quarter worth $900,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in Rayonier by 33.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 96,357 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,557,000 after acquiring an additional 24,144 shares in the last quarter. 89.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Wayne Wasechek sold 2,920 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.17, for a total transaction of $61,816.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 115,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,445,770.10. This represents a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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. Also, Chairman Eric J. Cremers sold 169,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.44, for a total transaction of $3,627,648.00. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 709,583 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,213,459.52. The trade was a 19.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $24.00 price target on shares of Rayonier in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Rayonier from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $28.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Rayonier from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Rayonier from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Rayonier in a report on Friday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.50.

Rayonier Price Performance

Rayonier stock opened at $21.31 on Friday. Rayonier Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.49 and a 52-week high of $27.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.21. The company has a quick ratio of 3.23, a current ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.08. Rayonier had a net margin of 97.94% and a return on equity of 4.09%. The business had revenue of $117.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $108.71 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Rayonier's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.10%.

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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