Retirement Systems of Alabama Lowers Holdings in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its position in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 198,890 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,134 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $4,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP raised its stake in Regions Financial by 29.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,729 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 24,928 shares of the bank’s stock worth $581,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Regions Financial by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 42,346 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $988,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,845 shares of the bank’s stock worth $515,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its position in Regions Financial by 5.9% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 9,768 shares of the bank’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus upgraded Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Regions Financial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Stephens upgraded shares of Regions Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $24.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.61.

Regions Financial Price Performance

Shares of Regions Financial stock opened at $23.17 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $25.20 and a 200 day moving average of $22.65. Regions Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $17.42 and a 52 week high of $27.96. The company has a market cap of $21.06 billion, a PE ratio of 13.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is 56.50%.

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.