
Regions Financial (RF) Stock Slides on Deutsche Bank Downgrade
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Regions Financial (RF) - Get Report stock is down by 1.78% to $9.95 in early afternoon trading on Monday, after a downgrade to "hold" from "buy" at Deutsche Bank on Friday evening.
As shares of Regions Financial rallied by 16% from their lows on August 25, Citizens Financial Group (CFG) appears to have more upside, the firm said in a note.
Citizens Financial Group had an earlier turnaround, and is trading at a 10% discount to Regions Financial, Deutsche Bank adds.
Additionally, Citizens Financial Group faces less risk from energy-related credit, and is not as exposed to pressures from non-sufficient funds or overdrafts, according to the firm.
Regions Financial is a financial services company based in Birmingham.
Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates REGIONS FINANCIAL CORP as a Buy with a ratings score of B. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:
We rate REGIONS FINANCIAL CORP (RF) a BUY. This is driven by some important positives, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, attractive valuation levels, good cash flow from operations and expanding profit margins. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.
Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:
- RF's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 0.4%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 0.3%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.
- Net operating cash flow has slightly increased to $798.00 million or 2.96% when compared to the same quarter last year. Despite an increase in cash flow of 2.96%, REGIONS FINANCIAL CORP is still growing at a significantly lower rate than the industry average of 312.07%.
- The gross profit margin for REGIONS FINANCIAL CORP is currently very high, coming in at 91.06%. Regardless of RF's high profit margin, it has managed to decrease from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, RF's net profit margin of 18.45% is significantly lower than the industry average.
- In its most recent trading session, RF has closed at a price level that was not very different from its closing price of one year earlier. This is probably due to its weak earnings growth as well as other mixed factors. Looking ahead, although the push and pull of the overall market trend could certainly make a critical difference, we do not see any strong reason stemming from the company's fundamentals that would cause a continuation of last year's decline. In fact, the stock is now selling for less than others in its industry in relation to its current earnings.
- You can view the full analysis from the report here: RF
Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of Jim Cramer, TheStreet or any of its contributors.








