Barclays PLC Raises Stock Position in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 12.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,254,555 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 689,313 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.71% of Regions Financial worth $164,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Regions Financial

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

Regions Financial Price Performance

NYSE:RF opened at $27.03 on Friday. Regions Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $17.74 and a 52 week high of $31.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $28.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.89. The company has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.55% and a net margin of 22.44%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 12.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on RF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Regions Financial from $29.00 to $31.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Evercore lowered Regions Financial from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.97.

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.