Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Upgraded to Outperform at Wedbush

Wedbush upgraded shares of Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Wedbush currently has $28.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $23.00. Wedbush also issued estimates for Regions Financial’s FY2024 earnings at $1.90 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.52 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.59 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.59 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.62 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $2.50 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on RF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on 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. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Regions Financial from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Regions Financial from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an in-line rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Regions Financial presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $22.06.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:RF opened at $23.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $21.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.51, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Regions Financial has a 1-year low of $13.72 and a 1-year high of $23.47.

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

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.34%. This is a positive change from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is currently 54.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Regions Financial by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,704,755 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,281,118,000 after buying an additional 3,119,237 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 55,775,416 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,080,928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951,026 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,252,693 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $285,562,000 after purchasing an additional 979,597 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,707,381 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $162,163,000 after purchasing an additional 103,529 shares during the period. Finally, Cincinnati Insurance Co. acquired a new position in shares of Regions Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $74,606,000. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.