Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 92,713 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $2,800,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 8.5% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,107,015 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $63,645,000 after purchasing an additional 165,527 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,255,888 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600,926 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,859,466 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,247,000 after purchasing an additional 69,191 shares in the last quarter. Royal Palms Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Regions Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $4,137,000. Finally, Waterloo Capital L.P. increased its stake in Regions Financial by 123.7% during the 4th quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 135,909 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,683,000 after buying an additional 75,149 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Regions Financial stock opened at $30.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Regions Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $22.70 and a 1 year high of $32.47. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.81. The firm has a market cap of $25.86 billion, a PE ratio of 12.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This is a positive change from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is 43.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Monday, July 20th. Stephens assumed coverage on Regions Financial in a report on Monday, June 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.24.

Regions Financial 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.