The Motley Fool's Austin Smith has a few questions for analyst Anand Chokkavelu about his recent research report on Regions Financial (NYSE: RF). Specifically, he asks, what is the opportunity?
Anand's reply: "There are the banks who have done well throughout, and there are the turnaround situations. Regions Financial is firmly in the turnaround situation."
Trading below book value, much like competitors Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), and Synovus (NYSE: SNV), there is tremendous upside if Regions can turn around. But there is much risk for investors as well.
Lowering funding costs, increasing loans as a percentage of deposits, and an improvement in the economy of the Southeast are all areas where Anand sees room for moderate improvement. Cost containment through technology is another area, one that Anand refers to as "show me, don't tell me."
But the most important is reducing bad debt, and while Regions has made improvements, it still lags sector leaders in this important metric.
See more in the following video.
