Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Grows Stock Holdings in Rayonier Inc. $RYN

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Rayonier Inc. (NYSE:RYN) by 42.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,925,463 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,463,118 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Rayonier were worth $101,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in Rayonier during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Rayonier by 65.7% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Rayonier by 49.7% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 1,732 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Rayonier by 77.9% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,451 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Rayonier by 134.8% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,858 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 1,641 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.12% of the company’s stock.

Rayonier Stock Down 0.1%

RYN stock opened at $21.89 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.25 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 2.21. Rayonier Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.49 and a 1-year high of $27.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $20.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.57.

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.01. Rayonier had a return on equity of 3.61% and a net margin of 68.61%.The company had revenue of $276.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $280.92 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.02) earnings per share. Rayonier’s revenue was up 233.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Rayonier Inc. will post 0.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Rayonier Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. Rayonier’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Wayne Wasechek sold 2,920 shares of Rayonier stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.17, for a total value of $61,816.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 115,530 shares in the company, valued at $2,445,770.10. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through 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. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Rayonier from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Rayonier in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Rayonier from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Rayonier from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Rayonier from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Rayonier presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.80.

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.