Van ECK Associates Corp Reduces Position in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 67.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,258 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 23,013 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Regions Financial by 7.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,152 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in Regions Financial by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 76,797 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 22,216 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Regions Financial by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 71,717 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,687,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 81.2% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 11,677 shares of the bank’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 5,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 5.0% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 141,155 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,320,000 after purchasing an additional 6,690 shares during the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

RF opened at $30.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $30.89 and a 200 day moving average of $28.80. 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 firm has a market cap of $25.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.99.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This is a boost from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is currently 48.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on RF. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Regions Financial from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Evercore reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.24.

About Regions Financial

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.