Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Hold" Rating

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) from a "sell" to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday.
• Analysts are mixed with one Strong Buy and four Hold ratings, leaving an overall consensus of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.50.
• Rayonier beat quarterly EPS expectations ($0.20 vs. $0.12) despite revenue falling 24.4% year-over-year, and Chairman Eric J. Cremers sold 169,200 shares (~$3.63M), trimming his stake.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday.

RYN has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Rayonier in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $24.00 price objective on Rayonier in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial upgraded Rayonier from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Rayonier from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.50.

Rayonier Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Rayonier stock opened at $21.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 0.97. Rayonier has a fifty-two week low of $19.49 and a fifty-two week high of $27.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a current ratio of 3.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $21.32 and a 200 day moving average of $22.41.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $117.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $108.71 million. Rayonier had a return on equity of 4.09% and a net margin of 97.94%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 24.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Rayonier will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Rayonier

In other news, Chairman Eric J. Cremers sold 169,200 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 709,583 shares in the company, valued at $15,213,459.52. This trade represents a 19.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RYN. Hartford Financial Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Rayonier during the third quarter worth $31,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in shares of Rayonier during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Rayonier by 65.7% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,581 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Rayonier by 138.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,696 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rayonier by 55.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,913 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. 89.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Rayonier

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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