Regions Financial Corporation $RF Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its holdings in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,478,706 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 88,078 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $91,733,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RF. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Regions Financial during the second quarter worth about $25,000. United Community Bank purchased a new stake in Regions Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 574.5% during the 2nd quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218 shares during the period. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on RF. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $31.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, January 19th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore cut shares of Regions Financial from an “in-line” rating to an “underperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.97.

Insider Buying and Selling at Regions Financial

In related news, EVP William D. Ritter sold 36,000 shares of Regions Financial stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 17,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,635.82. The trade was a 67.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:RF opened at $26.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.02. Regions Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $17.74 and a 1 year high of $31.53. 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 (NYSE:RF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 12.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.29%.

Regions Financial declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 12.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Regions Financial

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.