Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 7,811 Shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 151,663 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 7,811 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $3,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cincinnati Insurance Co. bought a new stake in shares of Regions Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $74,606,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,625,734 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $201,238,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014,706 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,252,693 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $285,562,000 after purchasing an additional 979,597 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Regions Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $19,322,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,577,350 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $54,184,000 after purchasing an additional 607,799 shares during the period. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on RF shares. Argus upgraded Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Regions Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.45.

Regions Financial Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE RF opened at $23.56 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $23.09 and its 200 day moving average is $21.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Regions Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $14.60 and a 12 month high of $24.47. The stock has a market cap of $21.56 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.50%.

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.