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

Shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $140.91.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on RJF shares. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Raymond James from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Raymond James from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Raymond James from $140.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th.

Insider Activity

In other Raymond James news, CEO Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 31,277 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.64, for a total transaction of $3,429,210.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,879,063.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 9.74% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Raymond James

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Heritage Wealth Advisors grew its position in Raymond James by 3,480.7% in the 1st quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 488,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,702,000 after purchasing an additional 474,622 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its position in Raymond James by 191.3% during the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 722,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,464,000 after buying an additional 474,443 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd. raised its position in Raymond James by 17.2% in the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 2,580,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $318,972,000 after acquiring an additional 378,033 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Raymond James by 820.2% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 197,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,388,000 after acquiring an additional 176,210 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Raymond James by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,468,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $316,966,000 after purchasing an additional 138,075 shares in the last quarter. 83.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Raymond James Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RJF opened at $149.07 on Friday. Raymond James has a 12 month low of $94.53 and a 12 month high of $150.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $30.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average of $126.21 and a 200 day moving average of $121.82.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. Raymond James had a return on equity of 19.61% 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 quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 10.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio is 18.54%.

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.