Aberdeen Group plc Reduces Holdings in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Aberdeen Group plc lowered its position in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 806,361 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 36,974 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.09% of Regions Financial worth $21,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RF. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 7.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,152 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 76,797 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 22,216 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 11.7% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 94,630 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,226,000 after buying an additional 9,923 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Regions Financial by 21.3% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,464 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 4,293 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Regions Financial by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 71,717 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,687,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the period. 79.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

Regions Financial stock opened at $26.46 on Monday. Regions Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.74 and a fifty-two week high of $31.53. The company has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 12.55%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.29%.

Regions Financial announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 12.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Brean Capital started coverage on Regions Financial in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 13th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore lowered shares of Regions Financial from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Regions Financial from $29.00 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.91.

Insider Activity at Regions Financial

In other news, EVP William D. Ritter sold 36,000 shares of Regions Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.78, for a total value of $1,036,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 17,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,635.82. The trade was a 67.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Regions Financial

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.