Regions Financial Corporation $RF Shares Sold by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada lowered its holdings in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 17.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,466,493 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,158,693 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $142,785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Regions Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $254,564,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,836,163 shares of the bank’s stock worth $618,860,000 after buying an additional 9,312,449 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 75.7% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 13,358,969 shares of the bank’s stock worth $348,936,000 after buying an additional 5,754,487 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 286.2% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 4,022,031 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $106,061,000 after buying an additional 2,980,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 151.2% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,939,544 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $103,886,000 after buying an additional 2,371,048 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Brian R. Willman sold 7,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $195,760.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Regions Financial Stock Down 0.3%

RF stock opened at $30.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $29.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Regions Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $22.70 and a 12 month high of $32.47.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 23.33% and a return on equity of 12.88%. Regions Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. This is a positive change from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is currently 43.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Regions Financial from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Regions Financial from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.24.

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.