Raymond James Financial (NYSE: RJF) didn't hit the Street's expectations last quarter, but investors hope that it will rebound this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial is a holding company engaged in different financial services, including the underwriting, distribution, trading and brokerage of equity and the sale of mutual funds and other investment products.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Raymond James Financial with three of five analysts rating it hold. Analysts like Raymond James Financial better than competitor LPL Investment Holdings overall. One out of nine analysts rate LPL Investment Holdings a buy compared to two of five for Raymond James Financial. Analysts' rating of Raymond James Financial has stayed constant from three months prior.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $823.8 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 10.1% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.54 per share. Estimates range from $0.51 to $0.55.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock with 82.8% awarding it an outperform rating. The community at large agrees with the All-Stars with 80.2% granting it a rating of "outperform." Fools have embraced Raymond James Financial, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 45 posts in the past 30 days. Raymond James Financial has a bullish CAPS rating of four out of five stars that is about on par with the Fool community assessment.

Management:
Raymond James Financial's profit has risen year over year by an average of 43.4% over the past five quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter

Q3

Q2

Q1

Q4

Net Margin

5.4%

9.3%

9.8%

9.0%

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