State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Boosts Stock Holdings in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 254,103 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,312 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $6,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,152 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 1,278 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 40.7% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 76,797 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,669,000 after buying an additional 22,216 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Regions Financial by 12.7% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 43,760 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 4,945 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 13.8% in the second quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 12,839 shares of the bank’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 1,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 0.5% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 277,006 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249 shares during 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 related news, EVP William D. Ritter sold 36,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.78, for a total value of $1,036,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 17,569 shares in the company, valued at $505,635.82. This represents 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. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

Shares of RF stock opened at $30.11 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $28.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Regions Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $17.74 and a 1 year high of $31.53. The firm has a market cap of $26.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.04.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 12.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 12.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is currently 46.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on RF. Piper Sandler raised their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Regions Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Six 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, Regions Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.84.

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.