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

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, RTT News reports. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st.

Raymond James has raised its dividend by an average of 18.2% annually over the last three years. Raymond James has a payout ratio of 16.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Performance

RJF stock opened at $138.97 on Friday. Raymond James has a 1-year low of $104.24 and a 1-year high of $174.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $155.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.42. The company has a market capitalization of $28.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last announced 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 net margin of 14.06% and a return on equity of 19.71%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 11.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Raymond James from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $161.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Raymond James from $166.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Raymond James from $198.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Raymond James from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $145.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $167.55.

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.