Advisor Resource Council Purchases New Position in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Advisor Resource Council acquired a new position in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 100,326 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,944,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of RF. Toroso Investments LLC lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 10,722 shares of the bank’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Regions Financial by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 3,881 shares of the bank’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the period. Kinneret Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Regions Financial by 2.3% during the first quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 29,352 shares of the bank’s stock worth $658,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Balentine LLC increased its position in shares of Regions Financial by 4.8% during the second quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 14,346 shares of the bank’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the period. Finally, Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Regions Financial by 5.2% during the second quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,512 shares of the bank’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares during the period. 75.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Regions Financial Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of RF stock traded down $0.30 on Friday, reaching $19.85. 6,199,868 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,311,465. The stock has a market cap of $18.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.66. Regions Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $13.72 and a 1-year high of $21.02.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.09). Regions Financial had a return on equity of 14.50% and a net margin of 22.66%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Co. will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.84%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Regions Financial from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Regions Financial from $21.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Citigroup raised Regions Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $20.00 to $23.00 in a report on Monday. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $22.00 price objective (up previously from $20.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.23.

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.