Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,604 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 713 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $673,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in RF. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 3.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,087,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,376,000 after buying an additional 34,125 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 197,060 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,635,000 after buying an additional 10,640 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 27,081 shares of the bank’s stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 754 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $205,000. Finally, Mayfair Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $365,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Price Performance

RF stock opened at $22.42 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $20.64 and a 200-day moving average of $23.24. Regions Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $17.72 and a 12-month high of $27.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $20.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.97.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.03. Regions Financial had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is 48.08%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joia M. Johnson acquired 2,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.18 per share, for a total transaction of $48,714.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on RF shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Regions Financial from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.53.

Regions Financial Company Profile

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.