Grant Private Wealth Management Inc Makes New Investment in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Key Points

• Grant Private Wealth Management Inc has acquired 13,349 shares of Regions Financial Corporation, valued at approximately $314,000, signaling renewed institutional interest in the bank.
• Regions Financial plans to increase its quarterly dividend to $0.265, up from $0.25, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders with a yield of 3.9%.
• Despite a recent decline in stock price, analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Regions Financial, with numerous upgrades to price targets for the stock.

Grant Private Wealth Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 13,349 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IFG Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Regions Financial by 0.9% during the first quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 52,531 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,142,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its position in Regions Financial by 3.9% during the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 13,369 shares of the bank's stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Regions Financial by 8.7% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 6,641 shares of the bank's stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its position in Regions Financial by 18.6% during the first quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 3,641 shares of the bank's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in Regions Financial by 0.8% during the first quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 76,922 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,672,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $750,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Roger W. Jenkins purchased 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.48 per share, for a total transaction of $101,920.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,383 shares in the company, valued at $162,638.84. This trade represents a 167.86% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on RF shares. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $27.00 target price (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Regions Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.58.

Regions Financial Price Performance

RF stock traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,394,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,231,060. Regions Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $17.74 and a 12 month high of $27.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.17.

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

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

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

Regions Financial Company 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.