Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Given New $34.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) had its price objective trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $37.00 to $34.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on RF. Brean Capital assumed coverage on Regions Financial in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Regions Financial from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays upped 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.91.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Regions Financial stock opened at $26.09 on Tuesday. Regions Financial has a fifty-two week low of $17.74 and a fifty-two week high of $31.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $27.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.73.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last posted 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). Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.55% and a net margin of 22.44%.The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Regions Financial will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 12.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is presently 46.29%.

Insider Activity at Regions Financial

In other news, EVP William D. Ritter sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.78, for a total value of $1,036,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 17,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,635.82. This represents a 67.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Regions Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RF. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Regions Financial by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,837,339 shares of the bank’s stock worth $862,792,000 after purchasing an additional 215,061 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,836,163 shares of the bank’s stock worth $618,860,000 after purchasing an additional 9,312,449 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,348,237 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $524,337,000 after purchasing an additional 573,659 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Regions Financial by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 18,356,400 shares of the bank’s stock worth $497,459,000 after buying an additional 231,924 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Regions Financial during the second quarter worth $246,790,000. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Regions Financial

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.