First Trust Advisors LP Buys 1,224,645 Shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,053,457 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,224,645 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $401,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Y.D. More Investments Ltd grew its position in shares of Regions Financial by 122.9% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 1,150 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Regions Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 2,354.9% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,252 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,201 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Regions Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Regions Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joia M. Johnson acquired 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $21.18 per share, with a total value of $48,714.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,486 shares in the company, valued at $370,353.48. This trade represents a 15.15 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 3,343 shares of company stock worth $74,348. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on RF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Regions Financial from $29.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Barclays increased their price target on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Regions Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.42.

Regions Financial Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE RF opened at $19.26 on Friday. Regions Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $17.72 and a twelve month high of $27.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.55. The firm has a market cap of $17.44 billion, a PE ratio of 9.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.01.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. Regions Financial had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. Analysts expect that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.19%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.55%.

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.