Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $25.49 and last traded at $25.47, with a volume of 222241 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.62.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Argus raised Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Regions Financial from $24.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Regions Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.45.

Regions Financial Trading Down 3.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.31.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 18.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American National Bank & Trust boosted its position in Regions Financial by 1,856.7% during the third quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Regions Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in Regions Financial by 157.2% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,335 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in Regions Financial by 530.0% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Regions Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 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.