RegionsFinancial posts
FeedPosted Jun 23rd 2009 1:30PM by Steven Halpern (RSS feed)
"Most of the government 's proposed changes for the financial markets aren't new or needed; but what will happen will be a boost for some and a bane for others," says Neil George.
Long-known in the newsletter community for his expertise in income investing, the advisor has just launched a new blog service, Stocks that Pay You. Here, he looks at some winners and losers from the current proposals for financial regulation.
George says, "In my view, these supposedly massive changes amount to window dressing. Banks and other related firms can continue to do what they've always done: cherry pick regulators and play off one regulator against another.
"So, unless we get the government actually empowering the guys down the line inside all of these agencies and departments, don't look for any big changes, because - while the players and the names might be changing - the contest is staying the same.
Continue reading Income ideas: Winners from financial regulation
Posted Apr 16th 2009 4:20PM by Jon Ogg (RSS feed)
Filed under: Starbucks (SBUX), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Regions Financial (RF), Southwest Airlines (LUV)

The sages say to sell the news and have started calling the market grossly overbought on the near-term, yet stock enthusiasm is at the exact opposite of how negative things were 6 weeks ago. We have 6 million on the jobless claims now, although this week showed a real
decline in new claims. The rally came on late in the day after the market was down triple-digits at one point. Here are the unofficial closing bell levels:
Dow 8,125.43 +95.81 (1.19%)
S&P 500 865.29 +13.23 (1.55%)
Nasdaq 1,670.44 +43.64 (2.68%)
Top Analyst CallsContinue reading Closing Bell: An IPO, Banks & Tech, all killing the bears (JPM, RST, SBUX, LUV, RF)
Posted Apr 16th 2009 4:00PM by Elizabeth Harrow (RSS feed)
Filed under: Major movement, Earnings reports, SEC filings, Forecasts, Good news, Regions Financial (RF), Options, Financial Crisis
The shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) surged this afternoon after the regional bank said it expects to report a first-quarter profit. In a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Chairman and CEO Dowd Ritter attributed the unexpectedly profitable quarter to recent strength in new account openings and customer deposit growth.
If Wall Street seems shocked by the news, it's because analysts were predicting Regions to swallow a quarterly loss of about $290 million, or 42 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters. Plus, with nearly 5% of the equity's float sold short, it seems that many investors were also betting on the bank to report gloomy earnings.
Continue reading Regions Financial draws heavy call volume after 1Q profit forecast
Posted Jan 20th 2009 2:10PM by Elizabeth Harrow (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings reports, Bad news, Regions Financial (RF), Housing, Financial Crisis
It's a dismal day on Wall Street for financial stocks, and Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) is no exception. The Alabama-based bank today reported an eye-popping quarterly loss of $6.22 billion, or $9.01 per share, as results were pressured by a $6 billion writedown in its banking and Treasury operations.
On an operating basis, Regions' loss of 35 cents per share exceeded the consensus estimate for a loss of 20 cents per share. Net charge-offs for the quarter soared to $796 million, compared to $107.5 million in the year-ago period. Additionally, the company confessed to "emerging stress" in its Florida-based real estate and mortgage businesses.
"Although we're encouraged by steps the government has taken to stabilize the housing market and revitalize the economy, there is no quick fix for credit quality issues currently plaguing the financial services industry," commented Dowd Ritter, RF's chairman, president and chief executive officer.
Ritter added that he doesn't expect unemployment to peak or real estate values to bottom in 2009, and he warned that bank earnings won't improve until such a trough is reached. He doesn't foresee the need to seek new capital from the government, though Regions will look for opportunities to shore up its capital position as market conditions allow.
Continue reading Regions Financial swallows huge quarterly loss, hits 24-year low
Posted Aug 23rd 2008 9:55AM by Peter Cohan (RSS feed)
Filed under: Federal Natl Mtge (FNM)
The Washington Post reports that Hank Paulson plans to turn the back of his hand to people who hold common shares of Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) in his "rescue" plan. But Paulson may bailout the holders of their preferred shares -- which currently pay a dividend yield of about 20%.
Why does Paulson prefer the preferred to the common shareholders? That's because the common shareholders are big mutual funds with lots of small shareholders who have no importance to the economy in his judgment. The preferred shareholders are regional banks whose capital he thinks would sink dangerously if he wipes out their dividend.
Below is a list from the Post of the big Fannie and Freddie preferred holders:
Continue reading Paulson to Fannie/Freddie common shareholders: Drop Dead
Posted Jul 17th 2008 2:48PM by Brent Archer (RSS feed)
Filed under: Major movement, Earnings reports, Good news, Industry, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Regions Financial (RF), Comerica Inc (CMA), Options, Technical Analysis
Regions Financial (NYSE:
RF) shares are trading higher today with other financial stocks after a slew of positive financial earnings.
JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:
JPM)
reported a second-quarter profit of $2 billion, or 54 cents per share, beating analysts' predictions of 44 cents per share, while
PNC Financial (NYSE:
PNC) and
Comerica (NYSE:
CMA) also reported earnings and are trading higher. If you think that the company won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on RF.
After hitting a one-year high of $33.65 last July, the stock hit a one-year low of $6.41 on Tuesday. RF opened this morning at $8.88. So far today the stock has hit a low of $8.09 and a high of $9.91. As of 12:45, RF is trading at $9.07, up 1.06 (12.8%). The chart for RF looks bearish and steady, while
S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.
For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an August
bull-put credit spread below the $5 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 13.6% return in just one month as long as RF is above $5 at August expiration. RF would have to fall by more than 44% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade
here.
RF hasn't been below $6.40 at all in the past year and has shown support around $7 recently. This trade could be risky if the company's earnings (due out on 7/22) disappoint, but most of the banks that have reported so far have responded well to their earnings reports.
Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.
DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in RF nor CMA. He does own and control bullish hedged trades on PNC and JPM.Posted Jun 17th 2008 4:35PM by Paul Foster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Regions Financial (RF), Options
Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF), a financial holding company based in Birmingham, Alabama, recently down 99c to $12.76:
Friedman Billings has an underperform rating on RF. RF call option volume of 6,410 contracts compared to put volume of 37,361 contracts. RF June 12.5 straddle was priced at 85c. RF July option implied volatility of 72 was above its 26-week average of 48 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.
Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com
Posted May 16th 2008 11:38AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Penney (J.C.) (JCP), Regions Financial (RF), Kohl's Corp (KSS), Nordstrom, Inc (JWN), SanDisk Corp (SNDK)
MOST NOTEWORTHY: The Department store sector, SanDisk and CNET Networks were today's noteworthy downgrades:
- Goldman downgraded the department store sector to Neutral from Attractive after raising its 2008 oil forecast to $149 from $115, as it believes higher gas prices will impact consumer discretionary spend and sentiment. Goldman downgraded JC Penney (NYSE: JCP) and Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) to Neutral and also removed Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) from its Conviction Buy List.
- JMP Securities downgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Underperform from Market Perform based on increased competition in NAND, a potential decline in royalty income, valuation, and lack of catalysts from flash-based solid state drives.
- CNET Networks (NASDAQ: CNET) was cut to Neutral from Buy at Banc of America following the tender offer from CBS (NYSE: CBS).
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
- Merrill downgraded Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) to Sell from Neutral.
- B. Riley downgraded Exar (NASDAQ: EXAR) to Neutral from Buy.
- Albermarle (NYSE: ALB) was lowered to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan.
Posted May 6th 2008 10:33AM by Steven Halpern (RSS feed)
Filed under: Microsoft (MSFT), PepsiCo (PEP), Newsletters, Walgreen Co (WAG), Regions Financial (RF), Procter and Gamble (PG), Stocks to Buy
"Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) is no longer relegated to a tiny corner of the investment landscape; indeed, according to the Social Investment Forum, SRI now accounts for $2.7 trillion, up more than 18% since 2005," says Chuck Carlson.
Here, the editor of The DRIP Investor offers five stock that both rank high for their social responsibility and also stand out based on more traditional earnings and valuation analysis.
"The Social Investment Forum estimates that more than one in every 10 dollars under professional management in the U.S. is involved in SRI investing. What is driving the growth in SRI?
"One factor is the increasing numbers of women and younger investors among the investor populace have fueled demand for SRI investments.
"In addition, we see an increased focus on environment, social, and corporate governance issues. Further, widely publicized stories concerning global warming as well as various corporate governance issues, have caused many investors to reconsider how they deploy their investment capital.
Continue reading Socially responsible favorites
Posted Apr 17th 2008 11:01AM by Eric Buscemi (RSS feed)
Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Regions Financial (RF)
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Venoco, Newfield Exploration and Regions Financial were today's noteworthy upgrades:
- Jefferies upgraded shares of Venoco (NYSE:VQ) to Buy from Hold on increased confidence in the company's 5%-10% 2008 production growth target.
- Newfield Exploration (NYSE:NFX) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings. The firm said there has been significant progress in the economics of NFX's Woodford play.
- Citigroup upgraded Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) to Hold from Sell on valuation, as they their concerns are now priced into shares.
OTHER UPGRADES:
Posted Jan 17th 2008 8:16AM by Paul Foster (RSS feed)
Filed under: Options
Regions Financial (NYSE: RF), a financial holding company with nearly $138 billion of assets in Birmingham, Alabama, is expected to report EPS on January 22. RF closed at $21.16. RF February option implied volatility of 58 is above its 26-week average of 33 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.
Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ: HBAN), a $54 billion regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, closed at $12.43. HBAN is expected to report full Q4 EPS today. HBAN overall option implied volatility of 57 is above its 26-week average of 34 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.
Options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com
Posted Apr 18th 2007 11:13AM by Kevin Shult (RSS feed)
Filed under: Before the bell, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Good news, Intel (INTC), Caterpillar (CAT), Comerica Inc (CMA), Wells Fargo (WFC)
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Intel (INTC), Caterpillar (CAT), Wells Fargo & Co (WFC), M&T Bank Corp (MTB) and Regions Financial Corp (RF) were some of today's noteworthy initiations:
- Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan based on expectations for margin expansion in 2H07 driven by share gains, stable pricing, and lower costs. Shares were upgraded to Buy from Neutral at American Technology as the firm believes the price war is ending sooner than expected and that NOR Flash could be divested soon.
- Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT) was upgraded at Wachovia to Outperform from Market Perform to reflect a re-acceleration in earnings growth and a lower probability of a recession.
- Soleil upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE: WFC) to Buy from Hold as the firm believes WFC is an attractive late-cycle play with above-average growth prospects and superior risk management.
- Merrill Lynch upgraded shares of M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB) and Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) to Buy from Neutral, citing valuation. Oppenheimer upgraded M&T Bank to Neutral from Sell based on valuation and revised estimates. Keefe Bruyette raised Regions Financial rating to Market Perform from Underperform.
OTHER UPGRADES:
- Susquehanna upgraded shares of NICE Systems Ltd (NASDAQ: NICE) to Positive from Neutral as the firm expects strong execution from the company's robust product set and increased market share following the Verint Systems' (VRNT) acquisition of Witness Systems (WITS).
- Comerica (NYSE: CMA) was upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital.
Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).