Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Regions Financial has an average “Hold” rating from 20 analysts: 11 holds, six buys and three sells. The average 12-month price target is $32.29.
• The bank exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.68 in EPS versus the $0.63 consensus and $1.95 billion in revenue versus the $1.94 billion estimate.
• Regions Financial increased its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $1.20 and a yield of approximately 4.2%.

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the twenty analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.2941.

RF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Regions Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Monday, June 15th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Friday, July 17th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Regions Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,107,015 shares of the bank's stock valued at $63,645,000 after purchasing an additional 165,527 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Regions Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $219,068,000. Royal Palms Capital LLC purchased a new position in Regions Financial in the 4th quarter worth $4,137,000. Waterloo Capital L.P. lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 123.7% in the fourth quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 135,909 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,683,000 after purchasing an additional 75,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 7,509.2% in the second quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 48,623 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 47,984 shares during the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

Shares of RF opened at $28.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.72 and a 200 day moving average of $28.82. The company has a market capitalization of $24.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.99. Regions Financial has a 12 month low of $22.70 and a 12 month high of $32.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 23.33%.The firm's revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Regions Financial will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This is a positive change from Regions Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.98%.

Regions Financial Company Profile

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 consumer, commercial and institutional customers.

Regions Bank offers checking and savings accounts, consumer loans, credit cards, mortgages, home equity products and other personal banking services. Its commercial and corporate offerings include business loans, treasury management, equipment financing, capital markets services and other solutions for companies, municipalities and institutions.

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