Regions Financial Corporation $RF Shares Acquired by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Regions Financial Corporation by 3.3%, acquiring an additional 31,610 shares, bringing its total ownership to over 1 million shares valued at approximately $21.73 million.
• Regions Financial announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.25 to $0.265, which will be paid on October 1st, yielding about 3.9% annually.
• Brokerages have assigned a Moderate Buy rating to Regions Financial, with a median target price estimate of $27.47, reflecting a positive outlook from analysts.

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,000,206 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 31,610 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.11% of Regions Financial worth $21,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 637.3% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,224 shares of the bank's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares during the period. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Groupe la Francaise purchased a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 76.6% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,876 shares of the bank's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the first quarter valued at about $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Regions Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Regions Financial news, EVP David R. Keenan sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.01, for a total transaction of $750,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 90,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,273,784.15. This trade represents a 24.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Roger W. Jenkins acquired 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.48 per share, for a total transaction of $101,920.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 6,383 shares of the company's stock, valued at $162,638.84. This represents a 167.86% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Regions Financial Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:RF traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $27.19. The stock had a trading volume of 17,753,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,845,808. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.99. The company has a market capitalization of $24.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.02. Regions Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $17.74 and a twelve month high of $27.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. Regions Financial had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is an increase from Regions Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio is 49.30%.

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.