Amundi Reduces Position in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Key Points

• Amundi cut its Regions Financial stake by 16.3% in the second quarter, selling 724,711 shares and retaining 3.72 million shares valued at approximately $112.2 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 79.39% of the company.
• Regions Financial exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.68 in earnings per share versus the $0.63 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $1.95 billion. Analysts forecast full-year EPS of $2.63.
• The bank increased its quarterly dividend from $0.27 to $0.30 per share, implying a 4.0% annualized yield. Wall Street’s consensus rating remains “Hold,” with an average price target of $32.29.

Amundi lowered its stake in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 16.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,716,049 shares of the bank's stock after selling 724,711 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned approximately 0.44% of Regions Financial worth $112,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 7.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,152 shares of the bank's stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Regions Financial by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 76,797 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,669,000 after buying an additional 22,216 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 0.7% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 71,717 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,687,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 81.2% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 11,677 shares of the bank's stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 5,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 5.0% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 141,155 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,320,000 after buying an additional 6,690 shares during the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

RF opened at $29.91 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $25.49 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.80. Regions Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $22.70 and a fifty-two week high of $32.47.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 23.33% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a boost from Regions Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens assumed coverage on Regions Financial in a report on Monday, June 15th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on Regions Financial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $32.29.

Regions Financial Profile

Regions Financial Corporation NYSE: RF is a financial services company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Through its principal subsidiary, Regions Bank, the company provides banking and related financial services to consumer, commercial and institutional customers.

Regions Bank offers checking and savings accounts, consumer loans, credit cards, mortgages, home equity products and other personal banking services. Its commercial and corporate offerings include business loans, treasury management, equipment financing, capital markets services and other solutions for companies, municipalities and institutions.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.