JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Stock Price

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase cut its price target on Regions Financial to $29.00 (from $31.50) and maintained a "neutral" rating, implying roughly a 9.2% upside from the current share price.
• Analysts are mixed overall — the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $29.75 (six Buys, nine Holds, three Sells).
• Regions authorized a $3.0 billion share repurchase plan (up to 12.9% of shares) even as it slightly missed the latest quarter's estimates (EPS $0.57 vs. $0.61; revenue $1.92B vs. $1.94B).

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $31.50 to $29.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the bank's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target points to a potential upside of 9.16% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Regions Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Regions Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $29.75.

Regions Financial Price Performance

RF stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.57. The company had a trading volume of 1,914,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,892,618. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.76 and a 200 day moving average of $26.72. Regions Financial has a fifty-two week low of $17.74 and a fifty-two week high of $31.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.04). Regions Financial had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 12.55%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. Regions Financial's revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Regions Financial will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 12.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Regions Financial

In related news, EVP William D. Ritter sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.78, for a total value of $1,036,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 17,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,635.82. This represents a 67.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Regions Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Regions Financial by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 70,801 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,919,000 after buying an additional 3,893 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Regions Financial by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 17,855 shares of the bank's stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 1,790 shares during the last quarter. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC acquired a new position in Regions Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,443,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Regions Financial by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 120,539 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,268,000 after buying an additional 31,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Regions Financial by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,021,803 shares of the bank's stock worth $54,831,000 after buying an additional 22,033 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.39% of the company's stock.

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.

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.