Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 16.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 207,254 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 39,677 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $4,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of RF. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Regions Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,268,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Regions Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $8,968,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Regions Financial by 13,948.1% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 284,755 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,643,000 after acquiring an additional 282,728 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Regions Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $8,274,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Regions Financial in the third quarter worth $3,565,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on RF. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $24.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $32.00 price target (up previously from $28.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Monday. Stephens raised Regions Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wedbush upped their target price on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.61.

Regions Financial Price Performance

Regions Financial stock opened at $25.33 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $24.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $23.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.19. Regions Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $17.18 and a 52 week high of $27.96.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.04). Regions Financial had a net margin of 18.78% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is presently 56.50%.

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.