Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes $7.98 Million Position in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 264,354 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $7,983,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,107,015 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $63,645,000 after acquiring an additional 165,527 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in Regions Financial by 244.4% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,255,888 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600,926 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,859,466 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,247,000 after purchasing an additional 69,191 shares during the last quarter. Royal Palms Capital LLC acquired a new position in Regions Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,137,000. Finally, Waterloo Capital L.P. raised its position in shares of Regions Financial by 123.7% in the fourth quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 135,909 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,683,000 after purchasing an additional 75,149 shares during the period. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on RF shares. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.24.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:RF opened at $29.32 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $30.87 and its 200-day moving average is $28.78. Regions Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $22.70 and a 52-week high of $32.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $24.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.97, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.99.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.05. Regions Financial had a net margin of 23.33% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. This is an increase from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 43.27%.

Regions Financial Profile

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) is a U.S. bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, that provides a broad range of banking and financial services. Its primary banking subsidiary, Regions Bank, serves retail and commercial customers through a combination of branch and ATM networks, digital channels and relationship-based delivery. The company offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgage origination and servicing, and payment and treasury services.

In addition to core banking, Regions offers wealth management, trust and brokerage services, insurance solutions, and capital markets capabilities to corporate and institutional clients.