Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 2,669,322 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the previous session’s volume of 8,515,249 shares.The stock last traded at $18.48 and had previously closed at $19.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $22.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Citigroup upgraded Regions Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Regions Financial from $21.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Regions Financial from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.39.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $17.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.30 and a 200-day moving average of $17.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.08). Regions Financial had a return on equity of 14.50% and a net margin of 22.66%. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Co. will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.17%. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is 45.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Regions Financial

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Regions Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $210,379,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Regions Financial by 296.5% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 10,552,656 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $234,902,000 after purchasing an additional 7,891,037 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Regions Financial by 8.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 53,824,390 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $925,780,000 after purchasing an additional 4,160,768 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in Regions Financial by 162.1% during the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 5,904,595 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $101,559,000 after purchasing an additional 3,651,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Regions Financial by 2.7% during 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Company Profile

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.