Raymond James Financial (NYSE: RJF) came in right in line with the Street's expectations last quarter, but investors are hoping that it will beat them this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, Jan. 25. 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. Three out of 10 analysts rate LPL Investment Holdings a buy compared to two of five for Raymond James Financial. Analysts haven't adjusted their rating of Raymond James Financial for the past three months.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $797.5 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 2% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.53 per share. Estimates range from $0.52 to $0.55.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are solidly backing the stock with 81.3% assigning it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All-Stars with 78.6% giving it a rating of "outperform." Fools have embraced Raymond James Financial, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 48 posts in the past 30 days. Raymond James Financial's bearish CAPS rating of two out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
Raymond James Financial's profit has risen year over year by an average of 28.2% over the past five quarters. Revenue has now gone up for three straight 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 Q4 Q3 Q2 Q1
Net Margin 8.3% 5.4% 9.3% 9.8%

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