Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) Stock Position Raised by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,674 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,436 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $2,610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 103.2% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,477 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 2,000.0% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 2,100 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 277.2% in the third quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 2,384 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 69.4% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 2,441 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Regions Financial from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $15.00 to $22.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Regions Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Regions Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $23.00 in a report on Monday, March 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.17.

Regions Financial Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:RF opened at $19.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $17.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $19.36 and its 200-day moving average is $18.05. Regions Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $13.72 and a 52-week high of $21.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 19.75% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Regions Financial Co. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

Regions Financial Company 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.