Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.31, Zacks reports. Raymond James had a return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 13.86%.

Raymond James Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE RJF opened at $172.13 on Thursday. Raymond James has a 1-year low of $104.24 and a 1-year high of $174.32. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $162.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 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 Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This is an increase from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Raymond James news, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 1,170 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.43, for a total value of $198,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 80,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,625,730.03. The trade was a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total value of $1,594,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 32,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,212,755.36. This represents a 23.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 64,621 shares of company stock worth $10,729,488. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on RJF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Raymond James from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Raymond James from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group raised shares of Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Raymond James from $168.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Raymond James has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $156.82.

Raymond James Company Profile

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.