Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Upgraded by Stephens to Overweight

Stephens upgraded shares of Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Free Report) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Stephens currently has $26.00 price objective on the bank's stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on RF. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Regions Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Regions Financial from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $25.06.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RF traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $23.88. The company had a trading volume of 5,798,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,926,809. Regions Financial has a 1 year low of $13.95 and a 1 year high of $24.47. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $22.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $21.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.17.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.04). Regions Financial had a net margin of 18.78% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. The company's revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Regions Financial will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Regions Financial's payout ratio is presently 54.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Regions Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RF. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 24,928 shares of the bank's stock worth $581,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 42,346 shares of the bank's stock worth $988,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,845 shares of the bank's stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,267 shares of the bank's stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. Finally, IFG Advisory LLC boosted its position in Regions Financial by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 30,928 shares of the bank's stock valued at $620,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during the period. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.