Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Sells 463,408 Shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. reduced its stake in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 55.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 366,312 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 463,408 shares during the quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $8,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of RF. American National Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 1,856.7% during the third quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 157.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,335 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 530.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Regions Financial in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in Regions Financial in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Price Performance

RF stock opened at $27.26 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average is $24.50 and its 200-day moving average is $22.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.16. Regions Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $16.51 and a 1 year high of $27.96.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 18.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is currently 56.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stephens raised shares of Regions Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $26.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Regions Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush increased their price target on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Regions Financial from $24.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.71.

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.