Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) Position Lessened by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its stake in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 202,024 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,916 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $4,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,704,755 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,281,118,000 after purchasing an additional 3,119,237 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 55,775,416 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,080,928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951,026 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $210,379,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 7,707,381 shares of the bank’s stock worth $162,163,000 after purchasing an additional 103,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,661,093 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,952,000 after purchasing an additional 606,647 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RF opened at $22.80 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.87. Regions Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $13.72 and a 52-week high of $23.09.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 18.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Regions Financial Co. will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.39%. This is a boost from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is presently 54.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on RF. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Regions Financial from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Regions Financial from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.51.

Regions Financial 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.