RF reported earnings below Wall Street's estimates
Regions Financial Corp (NYSE:RF) shares are shaking off a less-than-stellar first-quarter earnings report, up 5.8% to trade at $9.37, at last check. The company reported adjusted first-quarter earnings of 14 cents per share on $1.41 billion in revenue, lower than analysts' anticipated 23 cents per share and $1.46 billion.
On the charts, Regions Financial stock gapped lower in concert with the broad market sell-off, culminating in a nearly seven-year low of $6.95 on March 19. Today, RF is staring up at its 40-day moving average, a trendline that's contained the stock's 3.7 quarterly gain. Longer term, the equity is currently down 48.4% year-to-date.
Analysts are split coming into today, with eight of the 18 analysts in coverage sporting a "strong buy," and nine considering a tepid "hold" with only one "strong sell." Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus target price of $12.51 is a 41.4% premium to current levels. However, RF has withstood 10 price-target cuts this April.
In the options pits, puts have picked up in popularity. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), 1.29 puts have been bought for every call in the past 10 days. This ratio sits in the 88th percentile of its annual range, suggesting the appetite for puts is higher than usual.