UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Purchases 249,173 Shares of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) by 119.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 457,370 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 249,173 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Rayonier were worth $14,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Rayonier during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Rayonier by 53.5% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,079 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Rayonier by 165.1% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,079 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Rayonier by 539.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Rayonier during the second quarter valued at about $40,000. 89.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rayonier Stock Performance

Shares of RYN stock opened at $31.46 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.44. The stock has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of 29.68 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Rayonier Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.40 and a 12 month high of $35.29.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.01). Rayonier had a return on equity of 2.95% and a net margin of 15.84%. The business had revenue of $195.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.21 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. Rayonier’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rayonier Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $1.80 per share. This is a positive change from Rayonier’s previous special dividend of $0.20. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 107.55%.

Rayonier announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, December 2nd that permits the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on RYN shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Rayonier from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Rayonier from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 16th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director V. Larkin Martin sold 10,011 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.57, for a total transaction of $306,036.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,168 shares in the company, valued at $1,227,935.76. This trade represents a 19.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

About Rayonier

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.