Raymond James (RJF) to Distribute Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 on April 15th

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend 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% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Raymond James to earn $12.04 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 16.6%.

Raymond James Price Performance

NYSE:RJF opened at $151.34 on Friday. Raymond James has a 1-year low of $104.24 and a 1-year 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.01 billion, a PE ratio of 14.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.03.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.31. Raymond James had a net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 19.71%. On average, research analysts expect that Raymond James will post 11.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Raymond James

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on RJF shares. TD Cowen lifted 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. UBS Group raised shares of Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Raymond James from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Raymond James has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.09.

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.