Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) Stock Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $28.68 and traded as high as $29.04. Regions Financial shares last traded at $28.8760, with a volume of 10,485,279 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $30.50 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Regions Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th. Finally, Capital One Financial set a $33.00 price target on Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Regions Financial Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.68. The company has a market capitalization of $24.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.05.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.06. Regions Financial had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 13.43%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. Regions Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.70 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 1st. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 47.06%.

Institutional Trading of Regions Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RF. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 8.5% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,107,015 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $63,645,000 after purchasing an additional 165,527 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $219,068,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Regions Financial by 433.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,129,927 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,324,000 after acquiring an additional 1,730,874 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,043,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG raised its stake in Regions Financial by 7,509.2% during the 2nd quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 48,623 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,472,000 after acquiring an additional 47,984 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Regions Financial

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) is a financial services company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Through its principal subsidiary, Regions Bank, the company provides banking and related financial services to consumers, businesses, institutions and governments.

Regions Bank offers checking and savings accounts, consumer and commercial loans, credit products, mortgages, treasury and cash-management services, investment and wealth-management solutions, and insurance-related services.