Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $29.8438.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on RF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley set a $31.00 target price on Regions Financial in a report on Monday, January 19th. Wall Street Zen cut Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, December 13th. Evercore downgraded Regions Financial from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

RF opened at $29.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $26.07 billion, a PE ratio of 12.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.53. Regions Financial has a 1 year low of $17.74 and a 1 year high of $31.53.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.04). Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.55% and a net margin of 22.44%.The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Regions Financial will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.29%.

Regions Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 12.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Regions Financial

In related news, EVP William D. Ritter sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.78, for a total value of $1,036,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 17,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,635.82. This represents a 67.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Regions Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Regions Financial by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,152 shares of the bank’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 76,797 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 22,216 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the second quarter valued at about $44,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the second quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 5.4% in the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 327,826 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,778,000 after acquiring an additional 16,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

About Regions Financial

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) is a U.S. bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, that provides a broad range of banking and financial services. Its primary banking subsidiary, Regions Bank, serves retail and commercial customers through a combination of branch and ATM networks, digital channels and relationship-based delivery. The company offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgage origination and servicing, and payment and treasury services.

In addition to core banking, Regions offers wealth management, trust and brokerage services, insurance solutions, and capital markets capabilities to corporate and institutional clients.