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

Key Points

• Regions Financial Corporation has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from multiple analysts, with an average 12-month price objective of $27.47.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.265 per share, representing an annual yield of 3.9% and a payout ratio of 49.30%.
• Insider trading shows mixed activity; an EVP sold 30,000 shares while a director purchased 4,000 shares, suggesting differing confidence levels among executives regarding the company’s performance.

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.4737.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on RF. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up from $24.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock.

Insider Activity

In other Regions Financial news, EVP David R. Keenan sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.01, for a total value of $750,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 90,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,273,784.15. The trade was a 24.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roger W. Jenkins purchased 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.48 per share, for a total transaction of $101,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,383 shares of the company's stock, valued at $162,638.84. This represents a 167.86% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Regions Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. American National Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 2,433.3% during the second quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 1,064 shares of the bank's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Regions Financial by 163.2% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,058 shares of the bank's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Regions Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 637.3% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,224 shares of the bank's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058 shares during the period. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RF traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $27.05. 18,681,346 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,783,596. 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's 50 day moving average price is $25.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.97. The firm has a market cap of $24.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.02. Regions Financial has a twelve month low of $17.74 and a twelve month high of $27.96.

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

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. This is a boost from Regions Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.30%.

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.