Sierra Ocean LLC Makes New Investment in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,169 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $28,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of RF. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in Regions Financial in the third quarter worth about $6,281,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 15.0% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 12,445 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $290,000 after buying an additional 1,620 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 46.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 23,194 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 7,378 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 2.8% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,267 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $473,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 2.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 24,073 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Trading Up 1.3 %

Regions Financial stock opened at $24.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $22.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.20. Regions Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $17.72 and a 1 year high of $27.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $24.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.85.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is 51.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Regions Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised Regions Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Regions Financial from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $32.00 target price (up previously from $28.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.67.

About Regions Financial

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.