Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (down previously from $30.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $32.00 target price on Regions Financial in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.93.

Regions Financial Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Regions Financial stock opened at $27.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.06. The stock has a market cap of $24.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.04. Regions Financial has a 1-year low of $17.74 and a 1-year high of $27.98.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter. Regions Financial had a net margin of 22.49% and a return on equity of 13.05%. Analysts predict that Regions Financial will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is 46.70%.

Regions Financial declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 12.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Regions Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RF. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Regions Financial by 37.1% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,232 shares of the bank’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its position in Regions Financial by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 654,962 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $17,271,000 after acquiring an additional 19,472 shares during the period. Investment Research Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Regions Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $772,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Regions Financial by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 33,984 shares of the bank’s stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 5,278 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in Regions Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,253,000. 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.