Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Buys Shares of 19,562 Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise has acquired a new stake of 19,562 shares in Regions Financial Corporation valued at approximately $426,000.
• Analysts have recently raised their target prices for Regions Financial, with estimates ranging from $25.00 to $30.00, indicating a generally positive outlook for the stock.
• Regions Financial has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.265, reflecting a healthy financial position with a current dividend yield of 4.3%.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 19,562 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $426,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in Regions Financial in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Regions Financial by 76.6% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,876 shares of the bank's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Regions Financial by 30.7% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,346 shares of the bank's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its position in shares of Regions Financial by 181.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 3,225 shares of the bank's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 2,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proathlete Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Regions Financial during the first quarter worth about $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on RF. Stephens increased their target price on Regions Financial from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Regions Financial from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Citigroup increased their target price on Regions Financial from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $27.00 target price (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.33.

Regions Financial Price Performance

NYSE:RF opened at $24.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.98. Regions Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $17.74 and a 1 year high of $27.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 21.81%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. Equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is a positive change from Regions Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. 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.

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