Goldman Sachs Neutral On Raymond James Financial (RJF)

Goldman Sachs has a Neutral rating and a $41 price target on shares of Raymond James Financial, Inc. RJF after the company reported earnings. In a note to clients, Goldman writes, "Total securities commissions and fees continue to outperform and we forecast continued strength. With one month left in F2Q, total fees appear to be trending towards $550 mn, up 14% versus F2Q10. Moreover, the February commissions per day rate of $9.5 mn is at record levels, and continues an upward trend since August as retail activity drives higher commissions. While near term activity may be muted by geopolitical and macro events, we believe upside remains should markets continue to move towards the Goldman Sachs Global ECS Research forecast for S&P 500 2011 year end target of 1,500. Customer assets under administration of $273 bn are up 17% yoy, versus +20% in the S&P 500 over the same period, and are also at record levels. The number of managed and/or co-managed offerings was 7 in February and 13 quarter to date compared to 26 pcp, thus capital markets results may be lower qoq. We estimate capital markets revenue will fall 13% qoq from robust 4Q levels. Lastly, RJF noted loans in the RJ Bank were $6.1 bn, up 2% mom but modestly lower yoy. While RJF continues to pursue net loan growth, competition remains aggressive and pay-off levels are elevated, thus net loan growth may be elusive near term though we also note brokerage cash spreads remain low with rates." Shares of RJF lost 7 cents yesterday to close at $36.97, a loss of 0.2%.