Avanza Fonder AB Has $1.36 Million Stock Position in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Avanza Fonder AB trimmed its position in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,845 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 19,269 shares during the quarter. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $1,361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in RF. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 169.3% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 392,706 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,236,000 after purchasing an additional 246,906 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,785,000. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,284,000. Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 13,431 shares of the bank’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 4,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 487,152 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,458,000 after purchasing an additional 34,898 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Regions Financial news, EVP David R. Keenan sold 30,000 shares of Regions Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.01, for a total transaction of $750,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 90,915 shares in the company, valued at $2,273,784.15. The trade was a 24.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Roger W. Jenkins purchased 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.48 per share, for a total transaction of $101,920.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 6,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $162,638.84. This represents a 167.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Regions Financial Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of RF stock opened at $27.14 on Monday. Regions Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $17.74 and a 1 year high of $27.96. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. Regions Financial had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Regions Financial’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. This is an increase from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.47.

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.