M&G Plc Purchases Shares of 520,833 Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 520,833 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $10,417,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RF. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Regions Financial in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Regions Financial by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,399 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Regions Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Glassman Wealth Services raised its position in Regions Financial by 163.3% in the fourth quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 1,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Regions Financial by 75.6% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,435 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RF opened at $20.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $20.32 and its 200-day moving average is $19.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. Regions Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $13.72 and a 52 week high of $22.88.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The bank reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 18.91% and a return on equity of 12.64%. Regions Financial’s revenue was down 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Regions Financial Co. will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.79%. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is presently 54.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on RF. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Regions Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given 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 $21.51.

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.