Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 301,959 Shares of Rayonier Inc. $RYN

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group nearly doubled its Rayonier stake in the first quarter, buying 301,959 additional shares to bring its holdings to 621,876 shares worth about $12.8 million.
• Rayonier reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $0.07 per share, though revenue of $276.79 million came in slightly below estimates.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 4.8%, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a $24.60 price target.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN - Free Report) by 94.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 621,876 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 301,959 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of Rayonier worth $12,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of RYN. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in Rayonier in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Rayonier by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,581 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Bayban bought a new position in shares of Rayonier during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Rayonier by 74.0% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 2,279 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.12% of the company's stock.

Rayonier Price Performance

NYSE:RYN opened at $21.59 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $21.14 and a 200-day moving average of $21.52. The company has a market capitalization of $6.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.15 and a beta of 0.88. Rayonier Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.49 and a 52 week high of $27.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.53.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $276.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $280.92 million. Rayonier had a net margin of 68.61% and a return on equity of 3.61%. The firm's revenue was up 233.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.02) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rayonier Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on RYN. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Rayonier from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Rayonier from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Weiss Ratings cut Rayonier from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Rayonier from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $24.00 price objective on Rayonier in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Rayonier currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $24.60.

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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