Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Lowers Holdings in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 31.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,666 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 18,056 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $1,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in Regions Financial by 3.9% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 10,230 shares of the bank’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC now owns 23,670 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the period. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors LLC now owns 103,704 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,735,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in shares of Regions Financial by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,896 shares of the bank’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Regions Financial by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 75,163 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,982,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the period. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $31.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Regions Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Regions Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.97.

Regions Financial Price Performance

RF opened at $27.75 on Wednesday. Regions Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $17.74 and a twelve month high of $31.53. The firm has a market cap of $23.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.12, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.86.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.04). The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.29%.

Regions Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 12.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Regions Financial

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