Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Raised to “Buy” at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $26.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Regions Financial from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.35.

Regions Financial Price Performance

NYSE:RF opened at $23.50 on Thursday. Regions Financial has a 52-week low of $13.95 and a 52-week high of $24.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.91 and a 200 day moving average of $21.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.17.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 18.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Regions Financial will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Regions Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RF. Cincinnati Insurance Co. purchased a new position in Regions Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $74,606,000. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the first quarter valued at about $33,829,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Regions Financial by 13.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,625,734 shares of the bank’s stock worth $201,238,000 after buying an additional 1,014,706 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Regions Financial by 7.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,252,693 shares of the bank’s stock worth $285,562,000 after buying an additional 979,597 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Regions Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $19,322,000. Institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

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.