Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $166.09.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on RJF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Raymond James from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $161.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Raymond James from $168.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group upgraded Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Raymond James from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th.

Raymond James Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE RJF opened at $168.41 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.32. Raymond James has a one year low of $104.24 and a one year high of $174.32. The firm has a market cap of $34.42 billion, a PE ratio of 16.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.31. Raymond James had a return on equity of 19.99% and a net margin of 14.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 11.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James’s payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

Insider Activity at Raymond James

In other news, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.30, for a total value of $8,365,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 283,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,364,303. The trade was a 15.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 3,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.62, for a total value of $571,554.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,421 shares in the company, valued at $13,319,326.02. The trade was a 4.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 64,621 shares of company stock worth $10,729,488 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Raymond James

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Raymond James by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Stablepoint Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Raymond James by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 14,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,276,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 1.4% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 6,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $749,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 5.1% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. 83.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Raymond James

Raymond James Financial, Inc, a financial holding company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the underwriting, distribution, trading, and brokerage of equity and debt securities, and the sale of mutual funds and other investment products in the United States, Canada, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Private Client Group, Capital Markets, Asset Management, RJ Bank, and Other segments.