Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Takes $6.04 Million Position in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF)

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired 278,161 shares of Regions Financial Corporation, valued at approximately $6,044,000, in the first quarter.
• Regions Financial recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.25 to $0.265 per share, with a dividend yield of 4.2%.
• The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the latest quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.56, and had a revenue of $1.91 billion, up 10.1% year-over-year.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 278,161 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $6,044,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in Regions Financial during the first quarter worth about $606,000. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 213,600 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,642,000 after acquiring an additional 8,900 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,594,721 shares of the bank's stock valued at $34,653,000 after acquiring an additional 96,388 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 413.3% during the 1st quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 5,903 shares of the bank's stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 4,753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Regions Financial by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,092,742 shares of the bank's stock worth $675,645,000 after buying an additional 1,909,162 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Regions Financial Price Performance

RF stock traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $26.04. 17,436,266 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,808,138. Regions Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.74 and a fifty-two week high of $27.96. The stock has a market cap of $23.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $24.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.63. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.86 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 21.81%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.265 dividend. This is a positive change 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 4.1%. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David R. Keenan sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.01, for a total transaction of $750,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 90,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,273,784.15. This represents a 24.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roger W. Jenkins purchased 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.48 per share, for a total transaction of $101,920.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 6,383 shares of the company's stock, valued at $162,638.84. The trade was 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

Several research analysts have recently commented on RF shares. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and set a $27.00 price target (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Cowen began coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.