Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Sells 71,866 Shares of Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC trimmed its position in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 51.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,522 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 71,866 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $1,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Regions Financial by 1.3% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,484,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $740,511,000 after purchasing an additional 391,568 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Regions Financial by 0.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,794,677 shares of the bank’s stock worth $557,370,000 after purchasing an additional 109,549 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 52.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,523,714 shares of the bank’s stock worth $357,417,000 after purchasing an additional 4,679,285 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the second quarter worth $246,790,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,205,989 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $241,289,000 after buying an additional 233,458 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Evercore lowered Regions Financial from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.97.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $1,036,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 17,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,635.82. This trade represents a 67.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Trading Down 0.8%

RF opened at $26.76 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 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. Regions Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $17.74 and a 12 month high of $31.53. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.91.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.04). Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.55% and a net margin of 22.44%.The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. Regions Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Regions Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 12.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.