Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) Short Interest Update

Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 8,719,309 shares, an increase of 34.9% from the February 26th total of 6,462,151 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,588,248 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rayonier news, Chairman Eric J. Cremers sold 169,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.44, for a total value of $3,627,648.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rayonier

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RYN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Rayonier by 25.7% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,688,309 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $81,807,000 after purchasing an additional 754,076 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Rayonier during the 3rd quarter valued at about $674,000. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Rayonier by 102.7% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 156,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,482,000 after acquiring an additional 79,553 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new stake in Rayonier during the second quarter valued at $542,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Rayonier during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,144,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Rayonier in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Rayonier from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Rayonier from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Rayonier from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Rayonier Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:RYN traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $20.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,872,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,497,112. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 3.23 and a current ratio of 3.26. Rayonier has a 1 year low of $19.49 and a 1 year high of $28.14.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.08. Rayonier had a return on equity of 4.09% and a net margin of 97.94%.The company had revenue of $117.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $108.71 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. Rayonier’s quarterly revenue was down 24.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Rayonier will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.10%.

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.