Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Stock

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $27.00 to $29.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the bank's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target would indicate a potential upside of 9.99% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on RF. Cowen initiated coverage on Regions Financial in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Regions Financial in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Regions Financial from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stephens lifted their price objective on Regions Financial from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.85.

Regions Financial Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE:RF traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $26.37. The company had a trading volume of 4,180,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,362,257. Regions Financial has a fifty-two week low of $17.74 and a fifty-two week high of $27.96. The business's fifty day moving average is $22.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $23.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.98.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 21.81%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Regions Financial's revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Regions Financial will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RF. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG bought a new stake in Regions Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $333,000. Montgomery Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Regions Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $209,000. Lynx Investment Advisory boosted its stake in Regions Financial by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 20,424 shares of the bank's stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the period. Trivium Point Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Regions Financial by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 20,240 shares of the bank's stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Regions Financial by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,148 shares of the bank's stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,693 shares during the period. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Regions Financial

Regions Financial Corporation, a financial holding company, provides banking and bank-related services to individual and corporate customers. It operates through three segments: Corporate Bank, Consumer Bank, and Wealth Management. The Corporate Bank segment offers commercial banking services, such as commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, and investor real estate lending; equipment lease financing; deposit products; and securities underwriting and placement, loan syndication and placement, foreign exchange, derivatives, merger and acquisition, and other advisory services.

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