Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.17.

A number of brokerages have commented on RF. Citigroup raised their price objective on Regions Financial from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Regions Financial in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Regions Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Barclays raised their target price on Regions Financial from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on Regions Financial from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

Regions Financial stock opened at $26.06 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.41. Regions Financial has a 52-week low of $17.74 and a 52-week high of $27.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.265 dividend. This is an increase from Regions Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RF. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Regions Financial by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 354,631 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,341,000 after purchasing an additional 23,323 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Regions Financial during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Regions Financial during the 4th quarter worth $205,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in Regions Financial by 45.2% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 86,140 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,026,000 after acquiring an additional 26,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 678,633 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,962,000 after purchasing an additional 43,737 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.39% of the company's stock.

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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