Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $31.48 Million in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,338,430 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $31,480,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.15% of Regions Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 16,162 shares of the bank’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 5,276 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Regions Financial by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 127,425 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,997,000 after acquiring an additional 6,112 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Regions Financial by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,468,674 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $363,823,000 after acquiring an additional 1,963,954 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 510,665 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,003,000 after purchasing an additional 27,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in shares of Regions Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $612,000. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Regions Financial from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joia M. Johnson acquired 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $21.18 per share, with a total value of $48,714.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,353.48. This trade represents a 15.15 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 3,343 shares of company stock worth $74,348. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:RF opened at $19.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.01. Regions Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $17.72 and a 1-year high of $27.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $21.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.60.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 20.20%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.21%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.55%.

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.