Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 12.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 156,593 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 16,801 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $3,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Regions Financial by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,183,580 shares of the bank's stock valued at $686,398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,396,647 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Regions Financial by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,028,497 shares of the bank's stock valued at $540,284,000 after purchasing an additional 403,283 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Regions Financial by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 17,053,457 shares of the bank's stock valued at $401,097,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,645 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,468,674 shares of the bank's stock worth $363,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963,954 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Regions Financial in the fourth quarter worth $279,103,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Regions Financial Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE RF opened at $23.40 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $21.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.96. Regions Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $17.74 and a 1-year high of $27.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $21.56 and a 200-day moving average of $22.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 13.04% and a net margin of 21.43%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on RF. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Cowen began coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Regions Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $25.80.

Regions Financial Profile

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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