Bank of America Corp DE Trims Stake in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Bank of America Corp DE cut its stake in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 1.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,472,248 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 37,751 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $90,695,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew 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 valued at $61,135,000 after buying an additional 1,600,926 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Regions Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $1,939,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Regions Financial by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,859,466 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,247,000 after acquiring an additional 69,191 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 123.7% during the 4th quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 135,909 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,683,000 after acquiring an additional 75,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 108.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 675,296 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,301,000 after acquiring an additional 350,599 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens assumed coverage on Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, June 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Regions Financial from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Regions Financial from $31.50 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.24.

Regions Financial Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE RF opened at $31.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $26.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Regions Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $22.70 and a 52-week high of $32.47.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 23.33% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is an increase from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.27%.

Regions Financial Company 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.