Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Given “Overweight” Rating at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reissued their overweight rating on shares of Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $32.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays upped their target price on Regions Financial from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Evercore downgraded shares of Regions Financial from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $29.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.97.

Regions Financial Trading Down 0.8%

Regions Financial stock opened at $27.75 on Tuesday. Regions Financial has a one year low of $17.74 and a one year high of $31.53. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $28.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.86. 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 company has a market capitalization of $23.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.12, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.02.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 firm earned $0.56 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Regions Financial will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.29%.

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

Insider Activity at Regions Financial

In related news, EVP William D. Ritter sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,635.82. This represents a 67.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,152 shares of the bank’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 76,797 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 22,216 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 30,728.6% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,316 shares of the bank’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 4,302 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Regions Financial by 35.2% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 30,246 shares of the bank’s stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 7,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in Regions Financial by 13.5% in the second quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 24,391 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 2,894 shares during the last quarter. 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.