Board of the Pension Protection Fund Grows Stock Holdings in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Board of the Pension Protection Fund boosted its holdings in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 117.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 60,100 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,500 shares during the quarter. Regions Financial makes up approximately 1.6% of Board of the Pension Protection Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Board of the Pension Protection Fund’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $1,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of RF. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Regions Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $246,790,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 52.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,523,714 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $357,417,000 after acquiring an additional 4,679,285 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 286.2% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 4,022,031 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $106,061,000 after acquiring an additional 2,980,505 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Regions Financial by 151.2% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,939,544 shares of the bank’s stock worth $103,886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,371,048 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Regions Financial by 620.3% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,563,492 shares of the bank’s stock worth $60,293,000 after acquiring an additional 2,207,585 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Regions Financial news, EVP William D. Ritter sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.78, for a total transaction of $1,036,080.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,635.82. This trade represents a 67.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on RF. Wall Street Zen downgraded Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, December 13th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Regions Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.97.

Regions Financial Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:RF opened at $25.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.76 billion, a PE ratio of 11.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.02. Regions Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $17.74 and a 52-week high of $31.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $28.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during 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%. Regions Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to buy up to 12.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 46.29%.

Regions Financial Company 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.