Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) Stock Now Rated "Hold" by Sell-Side Brokerages

Key Points

• Regions Financial has an overall “Hold” consensus among 20 analysts: 12 hold, five buy, and three sell ratings. The average 12-month price target is $31.53, compared with a recent share price of $26.88.
• The bank exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.68 in EPS versus a $0.63 consensus estimate and $1.95 billion in revenue. Analysts project full-year EPS of $2.63.
• Institutional investors own 79.39% of the stock, with major holders including State Street, First Trust Advisors, and Dimensional Fund Advisors adding to or maintaining sizable positions.

Shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.53.

RF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Regions Financial from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, September 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:RF opened at $26.88 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $22.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock's 50-day moving average is $29.28 and its 200-day moving average is $28.97. Regions Financial has a 1-year low of $22.70 and a 1-year high of $32.47.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 6.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,667,092 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,543,092,000 after buying an additional 2,953,594 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 75.7% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 13,358,969 shares of the bank's stock worth $348,936,000 after buying an additional 5,754,487 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 1.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,827,358 shares of the bank's stock worth $256,633,000 after buying an additional 140,398 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in Regions Financial during the second quarter worth $236,756,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Regions Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $219,068,000. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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, and institutions.

Regions offers a range of products and services, including checking and savings accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgages, credit cards, treasury and cash-management services, investment and wealth-management solutions, and capital-markets services.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.