Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.31 EPS

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE RJF opened at $172.13 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $35.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $162.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Raymond James has a 52-week low of $104.24 and a 52-week high of $174.32.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 1,170 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.43, for a total transaction of $198,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 80,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,625,730.03. This represents a 1.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $1,594,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,212,755.36. This represents a 23.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 64,621 shares of company stock worth $10,729,488 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on RJF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $166.00 price objective (up from $151.00) on shares of Raymond James in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Raymond James from $143.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $136.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Raymond James from $168.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Raymond James presently has a consensus 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.