Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) Short Interest Down 25.5% in October

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) saw a large decrease in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,040,000 shares, a decrease of 25.5% from the October 15th total of 8,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,130,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Institutional Trading of Raymond James

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AGF Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Raymond James by 17.2% in the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 2,580,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $318,972,000 after acquiring an additional 378,033 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Raymond James by 1.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 37,173 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Raymond James by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,215,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $273,919,000 after purchasing an additional 25,494 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Raymond James by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,024,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,238,000 after purchasing an additional 113,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its stake in shares of Raymond James by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 1,874,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $216,153,000 after purchasing an additional 38,695 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.83% of the company’s stock.

Raymond James Stock Performance

RJF traded down $0.49 on Thursday, hitting $160.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 978,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,142,045. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.99. The firm has a market cap of $32.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.99. Raymond James has a 12 month low of $102.42 and a 12 month high of $163.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.41 by $0.54. Raymond James had a net margin of 13.86% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. Raymond James’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Raymond James will post 10.73 EPS for the current year.

Raymond James Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James’s payout ratio is 18.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Raymond James from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Raymond James from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Raymond James from $140.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Raymond James from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Raymond James from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Raymond James currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.91.

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.