Montgomery Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN)

Montgomery Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,543 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 403 shares during the period. Montgomery Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Rayonier were worth $510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Rayonier in the third quarter worth $25,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rayonier by 165.1% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,079 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rayonier by 539.9% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,235 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Rayonier by 59.7% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,404 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Rayonier by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,733 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. 89.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rayonier Stock Down 0.8 %

Rayonier stock opened at $25.73 on Wednesday. Rayonier Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.88 and a twelve month high of $35.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.27 and a beta of 1.03.

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

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

Rayonier Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th were issued a $1.80 dividend. This is an increase from Rayonier’s previous special dividend of $0.20. Rayonier’s payout ratio is 107.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on RYN shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on Rayonier from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com raised Rayonier from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 16th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Rayonier from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.67.

Rayonier Profile

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.