Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $31.32 and last traded at $30.9520, with a volume of 1092452 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.82.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Regions Financial from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Regions Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $31.00 price target on Regions Financial in a report on Monday, January 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.84.

Regions Financial Stock Down 0.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $26.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50 day moving average is $28.23 and its 200 day moving average is $26.51.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.04). Regions Financial had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 12.55%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. Regions Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is currently 46.29%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP William D. Ritter sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.78, for a total value of $1,036,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,635.82. This trade represents a 67.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Regions Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Regions Financial in the second quarter valued at $246,790,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,836,163 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $618,860,000 after buying an additional 9,312,449 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 118.6% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,604,482 shares of the bank’s stock worth $206,081,000 after acquiring an additional 4,125,776 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 286.2% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 4,022,031 shares of the bank’s stock worth $106,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,980,505 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 151.2% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,939,544 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $103,886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,371,048 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

About Regions Financial

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) is a U.S. bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, that provides a broad range of banking and financial services. Its primary banking subsidiary, Regions Bank, serves retail and commercial customers through a combination of branch and ATM networks, digital channels and relationship-based delivery. The company offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgage origination and servicing, and payment and treasury services.

In addition to core banking, Regions offers wealth management, trust and brokerage services, insurance solutions, and capital markets capabilities to corporate and institutional clients.