Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Price Target Lowered to $25.00 at Morgan Stanley

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) had its price target decreased by Morgan Stanley from $27.00 to $25.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Regions Financial from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the company from $15.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays restated an underweight rating and set a $22.00 target price (up previously from $20.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Citigroup upgraded Regions Financial from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the company from $20.00 to $23.00 in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Regions Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $20.17.

Regions Financial Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE RF opened at $19.19 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $17.63 billion, a PE ratio of 10.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.21. Regions Financial has a one year low of $13.72 and a one year high of $21.08.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 13.28% and a net margin of 19.75%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.62 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Regions Financial will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.00%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 52.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Regions Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RF. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Regions Financial by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,704,755 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,281,118,000 after purchasing an additional 3,119,237 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 55,775,416 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,080,928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951,026 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Regions Financial by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,169,876 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $346,922,000 after acquiring an additional 618,384 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 15.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,086,142 shares of the bank’s stock worth $190,682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455,499 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Regions Financial during the 4th quarter worth $210,379,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

About Regions Financial

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.