Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) Expected to Post Quarterly Sales of $1.68 Billion

Analysts predict that Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF – Get Rating) will announce $1.68 billion in sales for the current quarter, according to Zacks. Eight analysts have issued estimates for Regions Financial’s earnings. The highest sales estimate is $1.70 billion and the lowest is $1.66 billion. Regions Financial posted sales of $1.58 billion during the same quarter last year, which would indicate a positive year-over-year growth rate of 6.3%. The business is scheduled to announce its next quarterly earnings report on Monday, January 1st.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Regions Financial will report full year sales of $6.78 billion for the current financial year, with estimates ranging from $6.70 billion to $6.99 billion. For the next fiscal year, analysts anticipate that the company will report sales of $7.30 billion, with estimates ranging from $7.04 billion to $7.83 billion. Zacks Investment Research’s sales averages are an average based on a survey of sell-side research analysts that follow Regions Financial.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 14.96% and a net margin of 36.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share.

Several equities research analysts have commented on RF shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 28th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Regions Financial from $26.50 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research downgraded Regions Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $29.00 to $24.00 in a report on Thursday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Thursday, March 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.27.

Shares of NYSE:RF opened at $19.93 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.75. Regions Financial has a fifty-two week low of $18.02 and a fifty-two week high of $25.57. The company has a market capitalization of $18.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 2nd. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is presently 28.33%.

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RF. New World Advisors LLC bought a new position in Regions Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $440,000. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 9.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 105,584 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,250,000 after purchasing an additional 9,319 shares during the period. IndexIQ Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Regions Financial by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. IndexIQ Advisors LLC now owns 16,652 shares of the bank’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 846 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its stake in Regions Financial by 39.2% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,811 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 193,125 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,116,000 after buying an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. 74.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Regions Financial (Get Rating)

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.

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