Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Takes $20.11 Million Position in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Key Points

• Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired 666,064 shares of Regions Financial worth approximately $20.1 million, giving it about 0.08% ownership. Institutional investors collectively own 79.39% of the bank.
• Regions Financial exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.68 in EPS versus the $0.63 consensus and $1.95 billion in revenue. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $32.24.
• The bank raised its quarterly dividend from $0.27 to $0.30 per share, equating to a $1.20 annualized dividend and a 4.0% yield.

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new position in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 666,064 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $20,115,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec owned approximately 0.08% of Regions Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Regions Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $254,564,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Regions Financial by 68.9% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,836,163 shares of the bank's stock worth $618,860,000 after acquiring an additional 9,312,449 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 75.7% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 13,358,969 shares of the bank's stock worth $348,936,000 after acquiring an additional 5,754,487 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Regions Financial during the second quarter worth $163,654,000. Finally, Korea Investment CORP acquired a new stake in shares of Regions Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $99,190,000. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on RF shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Regions Financial from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Monday, June 15th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Evercore reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Friday, July 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.24.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

NYSE RF opened at $30.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Regions Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $22.70 and a fifty-two week high of $32.47. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $30.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.81. The stock has a market cap of $25.86 billion, a PE ratio of 12.39, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.00.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.05. Regions Financial had a net margin of 23.33% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This is an increase from Regions Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.27%.

Regions Financial 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.

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