Raymond James Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 (NYSE:RJF)

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%.

Raymond James has raised its dividend payment by an average of 18.2% per year over the last three years. Raymond James has a dividend payout ratio of 16.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Raymond James to earn $12.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.7%.

Raymond James Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of RJF stock traded down $3.73 on Friday, reaching $151.34. 1,668,568 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,355,326. Raymond James has a 52 week low of $104.24 and a 52 week high of $174.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.01 billion, a PE ratio of 14.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $161.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.74.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.31. Raymond James had a return on equity of 19.71% and a net margin of 14.06%. As a group, analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 11.12 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on RJF shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on Raymond James from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Raymond James from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Raymond James from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $161.00 to $185.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Raymond James from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Raymond James currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,688 shares in the company, valued at $5,212,755.36. The trade was a 23.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.30, for a total value of $8,365,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 283,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,364,303. This trade represents a 15.01 % 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 ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.