Short Interest in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) Declines By 14.1%

Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 30,310,000 shares, a decrease 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 days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $15.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Argus downgraded Regions Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Regions Financial from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Regions Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $22.00 price target (up previously from $20.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.34.

Regions Financial Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE RF opened at $19.26 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.16. Regions Financial has a one year low of $13.72 and a one year high of $21.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.08). Regions Financial had a net margin of 19.75% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Regions Financial will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.99%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Regions Financial news, Director William C. Rhodes III acquired 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.37 per share, for a total transaction of $968,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $968,500. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Regions Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Regions Financial by 6.0% in the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 25,359 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439 shares during the period. Hartline Investment Corp bought a new position in shares of Regions Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $294,000. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Regions Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $459,000. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 0.6% in the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 96,720 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SpiderRock Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Regions Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $447,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

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.