Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Cut to “Market Perform” at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $31.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Regions Financial from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Regions Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $30.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Regions Financial from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.27.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

Shares of RF stock opened at $28.65 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Regions Financial has a one year low of $17.74 and a one year high of $29.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.51, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.03.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.55% and a net margin of 22.44%.Regions Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Regions Financial will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 12.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Regions Financial

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its stake in Regions Financial by 3.9% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 10,230 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 25,747 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $606,000 after buying an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Regions Financial by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 10,505 shares of the bank’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Regions Financial by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 72,400 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,703,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 79,012 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,141,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Company Profile

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) is a U.S. bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, that provides a broad range of banking and financial services. Its primary banking subsidiary, Regions Bank, serves retail and commercial customers through a combination of branch and ATM networks, digital channels and relationship-based delivery. The company offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgage origination and servicing, and payment and treasury services.

In addition to core banking, Regions offers wealth management, trust and brokerage services, insurance solutions, and capital markets capabilities to corporate and institutional clients.