Betsy Bean’s Regions’ November best
Posted on November 19, 2009 at 10:29 amLocally based Regions Bank Consumer Sales Manager Betsy Bean has been awarded the November Better Life Award by the bank for her dedication to the job.
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Regions to trim branch network
Posted on October 21, 2009 at 7:08 amMiddle Tennessee’s largest bank will close 121 of its 1,900 offices across the Southeast to cut costs after it announced a larger-than-expected loss third-quarter loss Tuesday. Jim Schmitz, the bank’s local leader, tells Naomi Snyder Nashville will account for six of those closings.
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Regions boss gives up one of his titles
Posted on October 16, 2009 at 7:38 am
Dowd Ritter has relinquished the role of president of Regions Financial Corp. That job now belongs to 52-year-old Vice Chairman Grayson Hall, who also has taken on the new title of COO. Shares of Regions (Ticker: RF) didn’t do a thing after hours Thursday.
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UBS: Still plenty of regional bank stocks to sell
Posted on October 8, 2009 at 3:23 pmInvestment firm UBS today began covering a number of Middle Tennessee’s biggest regional banks, some with not-so-flattering ’sell’ labels on the basis of their stocks’ recent runups and continuing credit problems. Analyst Heather Wolf says investors should avoid SunTrust and Fifth Third and is neutral on shares of Regions and U.S. Bancorp.
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Regional banks having another strong day
Posted on September 16, 2009 at 11:44 amBuoyed by another batch of improving economic data from the inflation and factory fronts, stocks are extending their September rally. Among the sectors leading the way are regional banks, with local players like Regions, Pinnacle and First Horizon picking up 6 percent or more.
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Regions pops on CEO’s credit quality comments
Posted on September 15, 2009 at 3:20 pmDowd Ritter told attendees of a New York conference today that “last quarter might have been our high point” when it comes to loan losses. Just what investors eager to sustain a rally wanted to hear: Shares of Regions (Ticker: RF) rose 10 percent today and pulled along other regional banks, including First Horizon and SunTrust.
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Regions pops on hedge fund manager’s move
Posted on August 13, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Shares of Regions Financial, the parent of the largest bank in Nashville, are up more than 8 percent (Ticker: RF) after hedge fund titan John Paulson disclosed yesterday he has bought almost 3 percent of the company.
SEE ALSO: Jim Cramer putting into perspective Paulson’s move: “The guy was short mortgages! Regions Financial is a living, breathing mortgage.”
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Regions sued over ATM charges
Posted on July 27, 2009 at 3:42 pmA Williamson County man has sued Regions Financial in a putative class action, accusing the bank (Ticker: RF) of not disclosing that it charges non-account holders $3 to use its ATMs. The suit – available here – is almost identical to one he filed in June against North Carolina-based First Citizens.
Regions goes back in time
Posted on July 21, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Shares of Regions Financial, Nashville’s biggest bank, are off more than 15 percent after it reported a $188 million second-quarter loss and said its bad-loan issues are getting anything but better. The stock (Ticker: RF) is now at its lowest point since the rally began in early March.
Regions’ most stressed portfolios continue to be residential homebuilders; home equity second liens in Florida; and condominiums. These stressed assets currently make up about 8 percent of the total loan portfolio, down from 13 percent at the beginning of 2008. This represents a $4.0 billion decline in the last 6 quarters. While the loan categories mentioned above represent the company’s most stressed assets, certain other loan types, including retail and multi-family commercial real estate, are also coming under pressure from the faltering economy.
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Pinnacle’s new Knoxville chairman
Posted on July 7, 2009 at 10:25 amLocally based Pinnacle Financial Partners has named former Regions banker Harvey White as its new chairman and senior credit officer for its Knoxville office.
“Harvey is one of the most highly regarded members of the Knoxville banking community,” Hunter said. “His 35-year track record exemplifies Pinnacle’s model of hiring the most experienced and successful professionals in the marketplace.”
White has worked for Regions Bank and its predecessor companies for 28 years, serving as senior credit officer since 1999. He began his career at United Virginia Bank as a relationship manager
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Looking ahead to higher rates
Posted on June 23, 2009 at 10:31 pmStreetInsider.com relays the essence of a Deutsche Bank report that analyzes the potential impact of higher interest rates on a number of the country’s largest banks. Among banks with a good-sized Nashville footprint, Regions Financial (Ticker: RF) comes out of the mix favorably.
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Analyst action: Tractor Supply, Regions
Posted on May 27, 2009 at 9:53 amAnalyst Brian Nagel at Oppenheimer has launched coverage of a number of retailers, including Tractor Supply, which he rates ‘perform.’ Nagel, who joined Oppenheimer a month ago, has a price target of $39 on the shares of the Brentwood-based retailer (Ticker: TSCO), which are trading at $38 and change this morning.
Deutsche analysts, meanwhile, say the recent selling spree by Regions Financial investors has been overdone. They have raised their rating on the regional bank from ‘hold’ to ‘buy’ and upped their price target on the stock (Ticker: RF) to $5.
We estimate gross securities gains totaled more than $400m — some of which we expect to be monetized in 2Q and 3Q. While this lowers run rate earnings in the near term, it should address any remaining capital shortfall (if there is any) and protects book value.
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Regions to raise $1.25B
Posted on May 20, 2009 at 8:33 am
The biggest bank in Middle Tennessee will sell $1 billion in common stock and $250 million in preferred shares that will convert to common by the end of 2010 at the latest. The move comes two weeks after the government’s stress test called on Regions (Ticker: RF) to find $2.5 billion in new capital and two days after Moody’s cut the bank’s credit rating with the following commentary.
Although Regions entered this period with relatively sound capital ratios — at March 31, 2009, Tier 1 risk-based was 10.41% and Moody’s adjusted tangible common equity (TCE) ratio was 7.77% - Moody’s believes Regions’ capital position is likely to be increasingly challenged by the substantial credit costs it faces.
Moody’s negative outlook on Regions considers the possibility that in a more pronounced economic downturn than is currently expected, the company’s performance might be negatively impacted, not only from asset quality deterioration, but also from pressure on businesses dependent on the level of asset prices, such as trust and investment management. That could weaken earnings and add to the downward pressure on Regions’ capital base.
SEE ALSO: If the capital-raising plan doesn’t work, there’s always the ‘For sale’ sign option.
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From a PR standpoint, getting sued by a judge has to be close to the bottom
Posted on May 18, 2009 at 10:27 pmBut that’s what Regions Bank is facing in its hometown, where Circuit Court judge David Lichtenstein has accused CEO Dowd Ritter and his senior team of not doing enough to prevent the bank’s stock price (Ticker: RF) from collapsing.
The suit is a so-called “derivative action,” filed on behalf of all Regions shareholders. Any financial relief would go to the company, not shareholders, Baddley said.
“We want the unfair bonuses and any damages received to go back to the corporation, which would boost the bank’s finances and benefit the stockholders,” Baddley said.
Regions spokesman Tim Deighton promised that the bank would fight the suit. “We believe the case is without merit and we plan a vigorous defense,” he said.
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Dissecting the stress tests
Posted on May 7, 2009 at 10:14 pm
First, all the banks’ results neatly in a row. Among the banks with a notable presence in Nashville, only U.S. Bank and BB&T were deemed not to need new capital. BofA, Wells Fargo, Regions, SunTrust and Fifth Third must raise a combined $53 billion.
Then, from the AP comes a rundown of just how some of the affected players plan to raise the billions they need as well as word from those planning to repay TARP ASAP.
And via the Journal, a measured look at how the once-maligned concept of stress tests – Wells chief Dick Kovacevich not long ago called them ‘asinine’ – may actually come to be seen as the positive tipping point when we collectively caught our breath.
Investors fretted for weeks that the Treasury wanted to nationalize parts of the banking system, despite repeated efforts by Mr. Geithner and others to dispel that idea.
In retrospect, the tests were akin to hitting the pause button. The period allowed Mr. Geithner to buy time for the government’s evolving approach to the banking crisis, which had previously been ad hoc and heavily criticized.
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