Horizon Investments LLC Decreases Position in Rayonier Inc. $RYN

Horizon Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) by 48.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 34,452 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Rayonier were worth $808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Rayonier by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 12,942 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC grew its stake in shares of Rayonier by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 78,219 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,693,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Rayonier by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 28,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $752,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rayonier by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 24,299 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Rayonier by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 43,791 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,162,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $24.00 price target on Rayonier in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Rayonier in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Rayonier from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Rayonier from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.50.

Rayonier Stock Performance

Shares of RYN opened at $20.45 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.77 and a beta of 0.90. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.49 and a 52-week high of $27.33.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $276.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $280.92 million. Rayonier had a return on equity of 4.83% and a net margin of 68.61%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 233.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.02) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio is 34.10%.

Insider Transactions at Rayonier

In other Rayonier news, CFO Wayne Wasechek sold 2,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.17, for a total value of $61,816.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 115,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,445,770.10. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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. Also, Chairman Eric J. Cremers sold 169,200 shares of the firm’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 directly owned 709,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,213,459.52. The trade was a 19.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Rayonier Company 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.