Brokerages Set Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) Target Price at $172.92

Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE:RJF) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $172.9167.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Raymond James Financial from $165.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Raymond James Financial from $159.00 to $155.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $182.00 price target (up from $174.00) on shares of Raymond James Financial in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Raymond James Financial from $171.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Raymond James Financial from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd.

Raymond James Financial Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE RJF opened at $154.75 on Thursday. Raymond James Financial has a 12-month low of $138.82 and a 12-month high of $177.66. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $152.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.16 billion, a PE ratio of 14.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Raymond James Financial (NYSE:RJF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.07. Raymond James Financial had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 13.04%.The firm had revenue of $3.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Raymond James Financial will post 11.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Raymond James Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Raymond James Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Raymond James Financial by 4.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,847,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,009,342,000 after purchasing an additional 230,871 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Raymond James Financial by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,071,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $493,332,000 after purchasing an additional 474,477 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Raymond James Financial by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,785,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $447,381,000 after purchasing an additional 21,856 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Raymond James Financial by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,449,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $354,701,000 after buying an additional 220,227 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Raymond James Financial by 1.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,399,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,390,000 after buying an additional 41,413 shares during the last quarter. 83.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Raymond James Financial Company Profile

Raymond James Financial is a diversified financial services firm headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida. Founded in 1962, the company provides a range of services to individual investors, businesses and institutions through a combination of wealth management, capital markets, investment banking, asset management, banking and trust services. Its business model centers on a network of financial advisors and broker-dealer operations that deliver personalized financial planning, investment advisory services and brokerage solutions.

The firm’s core offerings include private client wealth management delivered by independent and employee advisors, equity and fixed-income research, institutional sales and trading, and investment banking services such as mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital raising.