Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Price Target to $24.00

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $22.00 to $24.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on RF. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Regions Financial from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $24.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wedbush upgraded shares of Regions Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $23.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.64.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

NYSE RF opened at $23.64 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $21.65 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.81 and a 200-day moving average of $20.96. Regions Financial has a 52-week low of $13.72 and a 52-week high of $24.47.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.04). Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 18.91%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Regions Financial will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 4.23%. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is currently 54.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Regions Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 281.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 79,593 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,675,000 after purchasing an additional 58,739 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in Regions Financial by 1,075.7% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 44,781 shares of the bank’s stock worth $942,000 after buying an additional 40,972 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 415,105 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,734,000 after acquiring an additional 98,003 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Regions Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $19,322,000. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the first quarter valued at $33,829,000. 79.39% of the stock is currently 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.