Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.42

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 25th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.42 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, July 17th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 30th.

Raymond James has increased its dividend by an average of 15.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 2 years. Raymond James has a payout ratio of 17.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Raymond James to earn $9.79 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.2%.

Raymond James Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of Raymond James stock opened at $92.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 1.02. Raymond James has a twelve month low of $82.00 and a twelve month high of $126.00.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by ($0.14). Raymond James had a return on equity of 18.43% and a net margin of 14.01%. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 8.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Raymond James from $121.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Credit Suisse Group decreased their price objective on Raymond James from $119.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 26th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Raymond James in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Raymond James from $130.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Raymond James presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.43.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Raymond James

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RJF. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $618,780,000 after acquiring an additional 2,510,966 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Raymond James during the 4th quarter valued at $206,765,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Raymond James by 26.7% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,876,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $641,330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,448,047 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Raymond James by 214.5% during the 1st quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,141,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $106,474,000 after acquiring an additional 778,644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Raymond James by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,278,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $243,433,000 after acquiring an additional 591,327 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

About Raymond James

(Get Rating)

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.