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

Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $24.35.

Several research firms recently commented on RF. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Regions Financial from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

NYSE RF opened at $23.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $21.75 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.98. Regions Financial has a 1-year low of $13.72 and a 1-year high of $24.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.04). Regions Financial had a net margin of 18.91% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. Regions Financial’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Regions Financial will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.21%. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is presently 54.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Welch Group LLC boosted its holdings in Regions Financial by 7.2% in the third quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 139,565 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,256,000 after purchasing an additional 9,384 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Regions Financial by 1.8% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 277,006 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,367,000 after purchasing an additional 4,963 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Regions Financial by 2.0% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 161,490 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,768,000 after purchasing an additional 3,240 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Regions Financial by 5.4% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 151,663 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,538,000 after purchasing an additional 7,811 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Investments LLC purchased a new position in Regions Financial in the third quarter valued at $354,000. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.