Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 165,527 Shares of Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,107,015 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 165,527 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $63,645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Regions Financial in the fourth quarter worth $254,564,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 68.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,836,163 shares of the bank’s stock worth $618,860,000 after acquiring an additional 9,312,449 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 75.7% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 13,358,969 shares of the bank’s stock worth $348,936,000 after acquiring an additional 5,754,487 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in shares of Regions Financial by 286.2% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 4,022,031 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $106,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,980,505 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Regions Financial by 151.2% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,939,544 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $103,886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,371,048 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Regions Financial stock opened at $31.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Regions Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $22.70 and a 12-month high of $32.47. The company has a market cap of $27.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.02, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.70.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 23.33% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This is an increase from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is currently 48.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on RF. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Evercore reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Regions Financial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Regions Financial from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Regions Financial in a report on Monday, June 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.24.

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.