Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 43,979 Shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. reduced its stake in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 349,200 shares of the bank's stock after selling 43,979 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.'s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $8,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in RF. LBP AM SA lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 149.4% in the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 730,614 shares of the bank's stock valued at $17,184,000 after buying an additional 437,691 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Regions Financial in the 4th quarter worth $1,965,000. Aprio Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Regions Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $1,247,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 263,131 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,220,000 after purchasing an additional 99,115 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,479,865 shares of the bank's stock valued at $34,806,000 after purchasing an additional 250,729 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Regions Financial Price Performance

Shares of Regions Financial stock traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $20.52. 5,091,599 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,095,295. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $20.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.40. The stock has a market cap of $18.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.01. Regions Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $17.72 and a 12 month high of $27.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.84 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 20.20%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on RF. Barclays reduced their price target on Regions Financial from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $25.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Regions Financial news, Director Joia M. Johnson purchased 2,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $21.18 per share, for a total transaction of $48,714.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 17,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $370,353.48. This represents a 15.15 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.