Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) Short Interest Update

Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 30,310,000 shares, a drop of 14.1% from the March 31st total of 35,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,680,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 3.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Regions Financial Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE RF opened at $19.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.14. Regions Financial has a one year low of $13.72 and a one year high of $21.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $18.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.21.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 19.75% and a return on equity of 13.28%. Regions Financial’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Regions Financial will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.88%. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Insider Transactions at Regions Financial

In other news, Director William C. Rhodes III bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.37 per share, with a total value of $968,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $968,500. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Regions Financial

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RF. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $2,281,118,000 after buying an additional 3,119,237 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 55,775,416 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,080,928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951,026 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,169,876 shares of the bank’s stock worth $346,922,000 after purchasing an additional 618,384 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,086,142 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $190,682,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455,499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Regions Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $210,379,000. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Regions Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $15.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Regions Financial from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.34.

Regions Financial Company Profile

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.