LPL Financial LLC Purchases 36,909 Shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 3.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 976,285 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 36,909 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Regions Financial worth $21,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Regions Financial by 14.5% in the 4th 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. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,522,612 shares of the bank's stock valued at $129,892,000 after acquiring an additional 1,907,121 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,480,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,726,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,658,858 shares of the bank's stock valued at $227,176,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247,882 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

NYSE RF traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $25.16. The company had a trading volume of 11,527,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,093,490. 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 stock has a market cap of $22.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.58. Regions Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.74 and a fifty-two week high of $27.96.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. Regions Financial had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is an increase from Regions Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. Regions Financial's payout ratio is presently 46.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on RF. Barclays lifted their target price on Regions Financial from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Stephens raised their price target on Regions Financial from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. DA Davidson raised their price target on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Regions Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.33.

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.