Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 21,821 Shares of Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 244,424 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,821 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $6,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Regions Financial by 163.2% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,058 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Regions Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Regions Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. United Community Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the second quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective 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 price objective on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.84.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP William D. Ritter sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,635.82. This represents a 67.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Price Performance

Shares of RF stock opened at $29.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.04. Regions Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $17.74 and a 12 month high of $31.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $28.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). Regions Financial had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 12.55%. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is presently 46.29%.

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

Regions Financial 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.