Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.06.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Regions Financial from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Regions Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Regions Financial by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,704,755 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,281,118,000 after purchasing an additional 3,119,237 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Regions Financial by 281.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 79,593 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,675,000 after purchasing an additional 58,739 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings in Regions Financial by 1,676.8% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 93,711 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,816,000 after acquiring an additional 88,437 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 1,075.7% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 44,781 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 40,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 415,105 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,734,000 after purchasing an additional 98,003 shares during the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

Regions Financial stock opened at $22.54 on Wednesday. Regions Financial has a twelve month low of $13.72 and a twelve month high of $23.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.58. The company has a market cap of $20.64 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.17.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 18.91%. Regions Financial’s quarterly revenue was down 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Regions Financial will post 2.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.44%. This is a boost from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.35%.

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.