Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.45

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 23rd, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a dividend of 0.45 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, April 15th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 28th.

Raymond James has raised its dividend payment by an average of 20.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Raymond James has a payout ratio of 18.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Raymond James to earn $9.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.3%.

Raymond James Trading Down 0.3 %

RJF traded down $0.42 on Tuesday, reaching $126.04. 317,827 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,035,825. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.99. Raymond James has a twelve month low of $82.00 and a twelve month high of $127.25. The company’s 50 day moving average is $116.95 and its 200-day moving average is $108.72. The company has a market cap of $26.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.04.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.15. Raymond James had a net margin of 12.81% and a return on equity of 17.95%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. Raymond James’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Raymond James will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jonathan N. Santelli sold 1,891 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.91, for a total transaction of $211,621.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,405,057.81. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Jonathan N. Santelli sold 1,891 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.91, for a total value of $211,621.81. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,405,057.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Art A. Garcia acquired 879 shares of Raymond James stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $112.30 per share, with a total value of $98,711.70. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $98,711.70. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 9.74% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Raymond James

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Raymond James by 1.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,689,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,383,900,000 after acquiring an additional 410,025 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Raymond James by 26.7% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,876,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $641,330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,448,047 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Raymond James by 80.5% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,629,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $618,780,000 after buying an additional 2,510,966 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Raymond James by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,018,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $373,915,000 after buying an additional 76,385 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Raymond James by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,278,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,433,000 after buying an additional 591,327 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on RJF shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Raymond James from $116.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Raymond James from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Raymond James from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $110.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $117.00 price target (up previously from $112.00) on shares of Raymond James in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $116.00 price target (down previously from $125.00) on shares of Raymond James in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Raymond James has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.50.

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.