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

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, RTT News reports. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a 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. 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 Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE RJF opened at $151.34 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $31.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.03. Raymond James has a 12 month low of $104.24 and a 12 month high of $174.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $161.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $145.31.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 11.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on RJF. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Raymond James from $128.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Raymond James from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upgraded Raymond James from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Raymond James from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Raymond James from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.09.

Insider Activity at Raymond James

In other Raymond James news, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 283,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,364,303. The trade was a 15.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tashtego S. Elwyn sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 32,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,212,755.36. This trade represents a 23.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 64,621 shares of company stock worth $10,729,488 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.