Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 105,402 Shares of Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Rafferty Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 690,907 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 105,402 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $18,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Regions Financial during the second quarter valued at $246,790,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Regions Financial by 620.3% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,563,492 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,293,000 after acquiring an additional 2,207,585 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Regions Financial by 85.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,625,557 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,976,000 after acquiring an additional 2,137,062 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Regions Financial in the second quarter worth about $24,927,000. Finally, Midwest Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $14,519,000. 79.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Regions Financial news, EVP William D. Ritter sold 36,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.78, for a total value of $1,036,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 17,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,635.82. This represents a 67.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Price Performance

NYSE RF opened at $27.79 on Friday. Regions Financial Corporation has a one year low of $17.74 and a one year high of $31.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $28.68 and a 200 day moving average of $26.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $24.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.04.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 22.44% and a return on equity of 12.55%. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 12.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 46.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on RF. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Regions Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Regions Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Regions Financial from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Regions Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.84.

Regions Financial Profile

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) is a U.S. bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, that provides a broad range of banking and financial services. Its primary banking subsidiary, Regions Bank, serves retail and commercial customers through a combination of branch and ATM networks, digital channels and relationship-based delivery. The company offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgage origination and servicing, and payment and treasury services.

In addition to core banking, Regions offers wealth management, trust and brokerage services, insurance solutions, and capital markets capabilities to corporate and institutional clients.