Raymond James Financial Inc. RJF announced first-quarter fiscal 2018 (ended Dec 31) adjusted earnings per share of $1.61, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.43. Also, on a year-over-year basis, the bottom line surged 33%.
Results were primarily driven by an increase in net revenues, reflecting solid investment banking strength. Also, growth in assets acted as a tailwind. However, higher expenses were on the downside.
Taking into consideration the impact of tax act and acquisition-related expenses, net income for the quarter totaled $118.8 million or 80 cents per share, reflecting a decline from $146.6 million or $1.00 per share reported in the year-ago quarter.
Revenues Improve, Costs Rise
Net revenues for the quarter amounted to $1.73 billion, rising 16% year over year. The rise was attributable to an increase in almost all the revenue components except other income and net trading profits. Further, the reported figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.70 billion.
Segment wise, in the reported quarter, RJ Bank registered an increase of 20% in net revenues. Further, Asset Management and Private Client Group depicted top-line improvement of 32% and 19%, respectively. However, Capital Markets witnessed a decline of 7% in net revenues, while Others reported negative revenues.
Non-interest expenses increased 10% year over year to $1.41 billion. The rise was largely due to increase in all cost components, except acquisition-related costs that declined 69% and lower other expenses as well as business development costs.
As of Dec 31, 2017, client assets under administration increased 18% on a year-over-year basis to $727.2 billion, while financial assets under management surged 63% to $130.3 billion.
Strong Balance Sheet, Capital Ratios Improve
As of Dec 31, 2017, Raymond James reported total assets of $36.1 billion, increasing 3.4% sequentially. Further, total equity rose 1.8% on a sequential basis to $5.7 billion.
Book value per share was $39.25, up from $35.55 as of Dec 31, 2016.
As of Dec 31, 2017, total capital ratio came in at 23.4%, increasing from 22.2% as of Dec 31, 2016. Also, Tier 1 capital ratio was 22.4% compared with 21.2% in the year-ago period.
Also, adjusted return on equity came in at 16.8% at the end of the reported quarter, up from 14.0% a year ago.
Our Take
Raymond James remains well positioned to grow via acquisitions, supported by a strong liquidity position. Further, loan growth coupled with improving economic environment will boost its top-line growth in the coming quarters.
Raymond James Financial, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Raymond James Financial, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Raymond James Financial, Inc. Quote
Raymond James carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Performance of Other Investment Brokerage Firms
Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. IBKR released fourth-quarter and full-year 2017 results. Adjusted earnings for the quarter came in at 43 cents per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 39 cents. Also, earnings came in higher than the prior-year quarter figure of 7 cents per share.
The Charles Schwab Corp.’s SCHW fourth-quarter 2017 adjusted earnings of 44 cents per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 41 cents. Results exclude one-time tax expense of 3 cents per share related to the tax act. Also, earnings increased 22% from the prior-year quarter.
TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation AMTD recorded a positive earnings surprise of 56.9% in first-quarter fiscal 2018 (ending Dec 31). The company reported earnings of 80 cents per share, significantly beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 51 cents. Moreover, results were up 86% from the prior-year quarter.
Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies
It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +18.8% from 2016 – Q1 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +157.0%, +128.0%, +97.8%, +94.7%, and +90.2% respectively.
And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 – Q1 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 11X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Be the first to comment