Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Regions Financial Call Options (NYSE:RF)

Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 19,223 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 822% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,084 call options.

Regions Financial Price Performance

RF stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.09. 1,361,981 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,894,917. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $24.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $24.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.16. Regions Financial has a fifty-two week low of $16.51 and a fifty-two week high of $27.96.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 18.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. Research analysts predict that Regions Financial will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RF. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 7.6% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 104,771 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,204,000 after acquiring an additional 7,422 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Regions Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $19,322,000. PGGM Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Regions Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $179,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 344.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 259,964 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,470,000 after buying an additional 201,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 62.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 46,441 shares of the bank’s stock worth $977,000 after buying an additional 17,924 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Regions Financial from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Regions Financial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Argus raised shares of Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Regions Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.71.

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.