Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Price Target Cut to $29.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) had its target price lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $31.50 to $29.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the bank’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Evercore lowered shares of Regions Financial from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.75.

Regions Financial Stock Down 0.5%

Regions Financial stock opened at $26.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $22.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Regions Financial has a twelve month low of $17.74 and a twelve month high of $31.53. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.72.

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

Regions Financial declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 12.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Regions Financial news, EVP William D. Ritter sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.78, for a total value of $1,036,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,635.82. This trade represents a 67.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Regions Financial

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Regions Financial by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 9,148 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Regions Financial by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 33,604 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $911,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Regions Financial by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 10,230 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the period. Lcnb Corp increased its holdings in Regions Financial by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Lcnb Corp now owns 10,725 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. Finally, West Paces Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Regions Financial by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 10,505 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the period. 79.39% of the stock is 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.