Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Raised to "Buy" at Brean Capital

Key Points

• Brean Capital upgraded Regions Financial to “Buy” from “Neutral” and set a $33 price target, implying roughly 20% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with six Buy, eleven Hold, and three Sell ratings; MarketBeat’s consensus is “Hold” with a $31.61 average price target.
• Regions Financial beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.73 EPS versus the $0.66 consensus, while revenue reached $1.99 billion and increased 3% year over year.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Brean Capital from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Briefing.com reports. The firm presently has a $33.00 price objective on the bank's stock. Brean Capital's price objective indicates a potential upside of 20.14% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird raised Regions Financial from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $35.00 to $32.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Regions Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.61.

Regions Financial Trading Up 0.1%

RF opened at $27.47 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $23.40 billion, a PE ratio of 10.77, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $29.12 and a 200-day moving average of $29.00. Regions Financial has a 52 week low of $22.70 and a 52 week high of $32.47.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 13.43% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm's revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Regions Financial will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Regions Financial

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 423.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 67,686 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,819,000 after buying an additional 54,755 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 35,424 shares of the bank's stock worth $952,000 after buying an additional 1,947 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 30.7% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 3,839 shares of the bank's stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 901 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 3.8% in the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 50,142 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,348,000 after acquiring an additional 1,829 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 13.1% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 144,105 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,352,000 after acquiring an additional 16,681 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company's stock.

About Regions Financial

Regions Financial Corporation NYSE: RF is a financial services company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Through its principal subsidiary, Regions Bank, the company provides banking and related financial services to consumers, businesses, institutions and governments.

Regions Bank offers checking and savings accounts, consumer and commercial loans, credit products, mortgages, treasury and cash-management services, investment and wealth-management solutions, and insurance-related services.

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