UBS Group Upgrades Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) to Strong-Buy

UBS Group upgraded shares of Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Raymond James from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Raymond James from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $166.00 price target (up from $151.00) on shares of Raymond James in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Raymond James from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $161.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $169.00 target price (up from $152.00) on shares of Raymond James in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $152.73.

Raymond James Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RJF opened at $159.32 on Monday. Raymond James has a 12-month low of $104.24 and a 12-month high of $171.38. The company has a market cap of $32.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $134.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.54. Raymond James had a return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 13.86%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 10.85 EPS for the current year.

Raymond James Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Raymond James’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Paul C. Reilly sold 50,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 283,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,364,303. This represents a 15.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bella Loykhter Allaire sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.43, for a total transaction 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 $13,625,730.03. This trade represents a 1.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 64,621 shares of company stock valued at $10,729,488. 9.74% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Raymond James

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Raymond James by 31.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,114,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,483,542,000 after buying an additional 2,898,242 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Raymond James by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,974,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $976,587,000 after purchasing an additional 54,265 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Raymond James by 12.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,544,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $556,533,000 after acquiring an additional 488,245 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Raymond James by 0.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,351,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $531,013,000 after buying an additional 12,869 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in Raymond James by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,505,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,689,000 after acquiring an additional 37,173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

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.