Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Decreases Stock Holdings in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lowered its stake in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 4.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 73,992 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,690 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $1,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of RF. American National Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 1,856.7% during the third quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Regions Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quarry LP increased 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 worth $27,000 after buying an additional 816 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Regions Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on RF. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $24.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush increased their target price on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America boosted their price target on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.45.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

RF stock opened at $25.41 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.36, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.31. Regions Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $14.86 and a fifty-two week high of $26.33.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.04). Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 18.78%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.