Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Acquires New Holdings in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co bought a new position in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 9,933 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 52,531 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,142,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC raised its holdings in Regions Financial by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 13,369 shares of the bank’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Regions Financial by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 6,641 shares of the bank’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in Regions Financial by 18.6% during the 1st quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 3,641 shares of the bank’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in Regions Financial by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 76,922 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,672,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on RF shares. TD Cowen started coverage on Regions Financial in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Cowen began coverage on Regions Financial in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $27.00 price target (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Regions Financial from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Regions Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Eleven 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.33.

Regions Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RF opened at $26.83 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $25.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.02. 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 current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. Regions Financial had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.265 per share. This is a boost from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.30%.

Insider Activity at Regions Financial

In other news, 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 transaction of $750,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 90,915 shares in the company, valued at $2,273,784.15. This trade represents a 24.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Roger W. Jenkins acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.48 per share, for a total transaction of $101,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,383 shares in the company, valued at $162,638.84. This represents a 167.86% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.