Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.2353.

Several research firms have recently commented on RF. UBS Group boosted their price target on Regions Financial from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Monday, July 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Friday, July 17th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Regions Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Regions Financial by 8.5% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,107,015 shares of the bank’s stock worth $63,645,000 after acquiring an additional 165,527 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 244.4% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,255,888 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600,926 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Regions Financial by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,859,466 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,247,000 after buying an additional 69,191 shares during the period. Royal Palms Capital LLC acquired a new position in Regions Financial during the 4th quarter worth $4,137,000. Finally, Waterloo Capital L.P. grew its position in shares of Regions Financial by 123.7% during the fourth quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 135,909 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,683,000 after buying an additional 75,149 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

Shares of RF stock opened at $30.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $25.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.00. Regions Financial has a 52-week low of $22.70 and a 52-week high of $32.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company’s 50 day moving average is $30.84 and its 200 day moving average is $28.80.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 23.33%.Regions Financial’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Regions Financial will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. This is a boost from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.98%.

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.