HRT Financial LP Cuts Position in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

HRT Financial LP lowered its position in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 6.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,049,892 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 72,471 shares during the quarter. HRT Financial LP owned approximately 0.12% of Regions Financial worth $24,693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Regions Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $606,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Regions Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $53,018,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 3.0% during the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 242,998 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,280,000 after purchasing an additional 7,139 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Regions Financial by 80.6% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 386,362 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,396,000 after purchasing an additional 172,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Regions Financial by 4.5% during the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 288,265 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,250,000 after purchasing an additional 12,520 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Regions Financial Price Performance

Regions Financial stock opened at $27.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.97. Regions Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $17.74 and a 12 month high of $27.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.20 billion, a PE ratio of 12.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.04.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The bank reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter. Regions Financial had a net margin of 22.49% and a return on equity of 13.05%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter. Equities analysts predict that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 12.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on RF. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $32.00 target price on Regions Financial in a report on Monday, September 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Regions Financial in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.93.

About Regions Financial

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.