Candriam S.C.A. Lowers Holdings in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. reduced its holdings in Regions Financial Corporation by 31.9%, owning 75,301 shares valued at approximately $1.6 million after selling 35,341 shares in the first quarter.
• Regions Financial announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.25 to $0.265, representing a yield of 4.0% and a payout ratio of 49.30%.
• The company's recent earnings report showed $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding estimates, and indicating a 10.1% revenue growth year-over-year.

Candriam S.C.A. cut its holdings in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 31.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,301 shares of the bank's stock after selling 35,341 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.'s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $1,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of RF. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 35.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,990,446 shares of the bank's stock worth $456,122,000 after buying an additional 5,521,772 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Regions Financial in the 1st quarter worth $53,018,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,092,742 shares of the bank's stock worth $675,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,909,162 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 52.7% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,522,612 shares of the bank's stock worth $129,892,000 after purchasing an additional 1,907,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 3.7% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 44,211,562 shares of the bank's stock worth $960,717,000 after buying an additional 1,562,512 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:RF opened at $26.76 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $24.69 and its 200 day moving average is $22.68. Regions Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.74 and a fifty-two week high of $27.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. Regions Financial had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a $0.265 dividend. This is an increase from Regions Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.30%.

Insider Transactions at Regions Financial

In other news, EVP David R. Keenan sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.01, for a total value of $750,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 90,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,273,784.15. This represents a 24.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Roger W. Jenkins purchased 4,000 shares of Regions Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.48 per share, for a total transaction of $101,920.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 6,383 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $162,638.84. This trade represents a 167.86% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on RF shares. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $27.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Regions Financial in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. 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, Stephens upped their price target 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Regions Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.33.

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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