Vestcor Inc Purchases 124,756 Shares of Rayonier Inc. $RYN

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc dramatically increased its Rayonier stake in the fourth quarter, buying 124,756 additional shares and lifting its holdings to 128,231 shares worth about $2.78 million.
• Rayonier shares were little changed, opening at $20.97, while the stock continues to trade at a relatively low valuation with a P/E ratio of 6.94 and a dividend yield of 5.0%.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $0.07 EPS versus the $0.06 estimate, though revenue came in slightly below forecasts; analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating with a $24.80 price target.

Vestcor Inc raised its position in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN - Free Report) by 3,590.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 128,231 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 124,756 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc owned about 0.08% of Rayonier worth $2,776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Rayonier by 882.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 496,024 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $10,739,000 after buying an additional 445,538 shares during the period. 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 valued at $100,383,000 after buying an additional 94,033 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Rayonier by 2.1% in the 4th 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 during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Rayonier by 61.3% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 139,706 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,025,000 after buying an additional 53,087 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Rayonier in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,112,000. 89.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rayonier Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Rayonier stock opened at $20.97 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a PE ratio of 6.94 and a beta of 0.88. 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $20.81 and its 200 day moving average is $21.61. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.01. The company 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 firm posted ($0.02) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rayonier Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Rayonier's payout ratio is 34.44%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Wayne Wasechek sold 2,920 shares of Rayonier stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 115,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,445,770.10. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RYN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Rayonier from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Rayonier from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $26.00 to $28.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Rayonier from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Rayonier from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Rayonier from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. One equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $24.80.

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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