Teacher Retirement System of Texas Raises Holdings in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) by 43.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,283 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,918 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Rayonier were worth $764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of RYN. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Rayonier by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 19,993 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $522,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Rayonier by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,733 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Rayonier by 59.7% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,404 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Rayonier by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the period. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Rayonier in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. 89.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rayonier Stock Performance

Shares of RYN stock opened at $27.83 on Monday. Rayonier Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.88 and a 52 week high of $31.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 1.00.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.08. Rayonier had a return on equity of 3.86% and a net margin of 28.44%. On average, research analysts predict that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rayonier declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, December 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Rayonier Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.2725 per share. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Rayonier’s payout ratio is 46.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on RYN shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on Rayonier from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Rayonier from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Rayonier from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James raised shares of Rayonier from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Rayonier from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.00.

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.