Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $25.49 and last traded at $25.47, with a volume of 222241 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.62.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Regions Financial from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Stephens upgraded shares of Regions Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $26.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Regions Financial from $24.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.45.

Regions Financial Stock Up 9.9 %

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.24. The firm has a market cap of $23.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 18.78% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Regions Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Regions Financial by 7.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,252,693 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $285,562,000 after purchasing an additional 979,597 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Regions Financial by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,625,734 shares of the bank’s stock worth $201,238,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014,706 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Regions Financial by 17.1% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,965,126 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,421,000 after purchasing an additional 433,319 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 30.9% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,577,350 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,184,000 after purchasing an additional 607,799 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in shares of Regions Financial by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 2,343,629 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,966,000 after purchasing an additional 266,934 shares during the period. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Regions Financial

Regions Financial Corporation, a financial holding company, provides banking and bank-related services to individual and corporate customers. It operates through three segments: Corporate Bank, Consumer Bank, and Wealth Management. The Corporate Bank segment offers commercial banking services, such as commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, and investor real estate lending; equipment lease financing; deposit products; and securities underwriting and placement, loan syndication and placement, foreign exchange, derivatives, merger and acquisition, and other advisory services.