Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Decreases Stake in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lowered its stake in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 31.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 195,930 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 89,008 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $5,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RF. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 7.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,152 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in Regions Financial by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 76,797 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 22,216 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in Regions Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $419,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lifted its position in Regions Financial by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 138,850 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,266,000 after acquiring an additional 4,565 shares during the period. Finally, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its stake in Regions Financial by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 175,045 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,550 shares during the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP William D. Ritter sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.78, for a total transaction of $1,036,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 17,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,635.82. This trade represents a 67.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on RF. Morgan Stanley set a $31.00 price objective on Regions Financial in a report on Monday, January 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 13th. Brean Capital began coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Evercore lowered shares of Regions Financial from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.97.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

NYSE RF opened at $24.98 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.91, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Regions Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.74 and a fifty-two week high of $31.53.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.55% and a net margin of 22.44%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to repurchase up to 12.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.29%.

Regions Financial Company Profile

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) is a U.S. bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, that provides a broad range of banking and financial services. Its primary banking subsidiary, Regions Bank, serves retail and commercial customers through a combination of branch and ATM networks, digital channels and relationship-based delivery. The company offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgage origination and servicing, and payment and treasury services.

In addition to core banking, Regions offers wealth management, trust and brokerage services, insurance solutions, and capital markets capabilities to corporate and institutional clients.