Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $26.42.

RF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Regions Financial from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th.

Regions Financial Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of RF stock opened at $18.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.01. Regions Financial has a 1 year low of $17.72 and a 1 year high of $27.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.69.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.01. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 20.20%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. Regions Financial’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Regions Financial will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.27%. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is 51.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Regions Financial news, Director Joia M. Johnson acquired 2,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $21.18 per share, for a total transaction of $48,714.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,486 shares in the company, valued at $370,353.48. This trade represents a 15.15 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders acquired a total of 3,868 shares of company stock worth $86,722 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Regions Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Regions Financial by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,183,580 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $686,398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,396,647 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Regions Financial by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,028,497 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $540,284,000 after purchasing an additional 403,283 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 17,053,457 shares of the bank’s stock worth $401,097,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,645 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Regions Financial by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,468,674 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $363,823,000 after buying an additional 1,963,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Regions Financial during the 4th quarter worth $279,103,000. 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.