ABC Arbitrage SA Purchases New Position in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 32,606 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $860,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RF. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its position in Regions Financial by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 10,230 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC now owns 23,670 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. Master S Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 1.2% in the second quarter. Master S Wealth Management Inc. now owns 40,303 shares of the bank’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Regions Financial by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,896 shares of the bank’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Regions Financial by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 75,163 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,982,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Price Performance

NYSE:RF opened at $30.96 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.48. The firm has a market cap of $27.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.52, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Regions Financial Corporation has a one year low of $17.74 and a one year high of $31.32.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.55% and a net margin of 22.44%.The company’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to repurchase up to 12.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is presently 46.29%.

Insider Transactions at Regions Financial

In other Regions Financial news, EVP William D. Ritter sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.78, for a total value of $1,036,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,635.82. This trade represents a 67.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on RF. Wells Fargo & Company cut Regions Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $30.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, January 16th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $31.00 target price on Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.84.

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.