Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 628,721 Shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its stake in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 96.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,242 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 628,721 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,874 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of Regions Financial by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 13,155 shares of the bank’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 7,675 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 1,964 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,560 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 32,363 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $761,000 after buying an additional 8,175 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Regions Financial in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “hold” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Cowen started coverage on Regions Financial in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.80.

Regions Financial Price Performance

RF opened at $21.95 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $21.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.51. Regions Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $17.74 and a 12-month high of $27.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $19.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.55, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.96.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 13.04% and a net margin of 21.43%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.56%. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is currently 48.08%.

About Regions Financial

Regions Financial Corporation, a financial holding company, provides banking and bank-related services to individual and corporate customers. It operates through three segments: Corporate Bank, Consumer Bank, and Wealth Management. The Corporate Bank segment offers commercial banking services, such as commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, and investor real estate lending; equipment lease financing; deposit products; and securities underwriting and placement, loan syndication and placement, foreign exchange, derivatives, merger and acquisition, and other advisory services.