Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a 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 $152.73.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on RJF shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $169.00 price target (up from $152.00) on shares of Raymond James in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Raymond James from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Raymond James from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Raymond James from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $161.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Monday.

Raymond James Price Performance

Shares of RJF stock opened at $159.32 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $159.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.73. Raymond James has a 12 month low of $104.24 and a 12 month high of $171.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $32.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.02.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.32 billion. Raymond James had a return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 13.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Raymond James will post 10.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. This is a boost from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James’s payout ratio is presently 20.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction of $8,365,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 283,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,364,303. The trade was a 15.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 3,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.62, for a total value of $571,554.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 80,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,319,326.02. This represents a 4.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 64,621 shares of company stock worth $10,729,488 in the last quarter. 9.74% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RJF. Bank of New Hampshire raised its position in shares of Raymond James by 99,290.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 9,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,544,000 after acquiring an additional 9,929 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Raymond James by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 16,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,598,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Raymond James by 78.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Raymond James by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,544,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $556,533,000 after buying an additional 488,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 626,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,770,000 after buying an additional 43,601 shares in the last quarter. 83.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.