Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Upgraded to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

RF has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $31.50 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Friday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.29.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:RF opened at $28.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Regions Financial has a fifty-two week low of $22.70 and a fifty-two week high of $32.47. The firm has a market cap of $24.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $30.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.82.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.05. Regions Financial had a net margin of 23.33% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Regions Financial will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. This is a positive change from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.98%.

Institutional Trading of Regions Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RF. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Regions Financial by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 9,148 shares of the bank’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC lifted its position in Regions Financial by 83.5% during the 2nd quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 813 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. Master S Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Regions Financial by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Master S Wealth Management Inc. now owns 38,631 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID lifted its position in Regions Financial by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 2,589 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the period. Finally, Lcnb Corp boosted its stake in Regions Financial by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Lcnb Corp now owns 10,725 shares of the bank’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

About Regions Financial

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) is a financial services company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Through its principal subsidiary, Regions Bank, the company provides banking and related financial services to consumer, commercial and institutional customers.

Regions Bank offers checking and savings accounts, consumer loans, credit cards, mortgages, home equity products and other personal banking services. Its commercial and corporate offerings include business loans, treasury management, equipment financing, capital markets services and other solutions for companies, municipalities and institutions.