Heartland Bank & Trust Co Acquires 1,284 Shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Heartland Bank & Trust Co lifted its holdings in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 12.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,740 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,284 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in RF. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in Regions Financial in the third quarter worth about $243,000. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 6.6% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 23,946 shares of the bank’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 1,493 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new stake in Regions Financial in the third quarter worth about $307,000. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Regions Financial in the third quarter worth about $219,000. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Regions Financial in the third quarter worth about $297,000. Institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on RF. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $24.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.35.

Regions Financial Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE RF opened at $23.75 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $22.87 and a 200 day moving average of $20.98. The company has a market capitalization of $21.75 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.17. Regions Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $13.72 and a 1 year high of $24.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 18.91%. The company’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.21%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.35%.

Regions Financial 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.