Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 7,378 Shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 46.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 23,194 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 7,378 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of RF. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. American National Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 1,856.7% in the third quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 157.2% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,335 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 816 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 75.6% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,435 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 530.0% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,256 shares during the period. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Regions Financial Price Performance

RF opened at $23.64 on Wednesday. Regions Financial Co. has a one year low of $13.72 and a one year high of $24.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.17.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.04). Regions Financial had a net margin of 18.91% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. Regions Financial’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RF has been the subject of several research reports. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.64.

Regions Financial Company Profile

Regions Financial Corporation, a financial holding company, provides banking and bank-related services to individual and corporate customers. It operates through three segments: Corporate Bank, Consumer Bank, and Wealth Management. The Corporate Bank segment offers commercial banking services, such as commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, and investor real estate lending; equipment lease financing; deposit products; and securities underwriting and placement, loan syndication and placement, foreign exchange, derivatives, merger and acquisition, and other advisory services.