Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lessened its position in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,212 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 525 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. American National Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 2,433.3% in the second quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 1,064 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 637.3% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,224 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new position in shares of Regions Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 76.6% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,876 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in shares of Regions Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Regions Financial

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

Regions Financial Price Performance

NYSE:RF opened at $26.19 on Friday. Regions Financial Corporation has a one year low of $17.74 and a one year high of $27.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $23.37 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $26.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.44.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 21.81%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. This is a positive change from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is 49.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on RF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Regions Financial from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Regions Financial in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Regions Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.89.

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.