Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich Sells 2,054,397 Shares of Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Key Points

• Munich Re sold 2,054,397 shares of Regions Financial in Q4, trimming its stake by 99.7% to just 6,613 shares valued at $181,000.
• Other institutional players ramped up exposure in earlier quarters—Victory Capital, Qube, AQR and American Century added millions of shares and Miller Howard opened a new ~$42.9M stake—leaving institutions with about 79.39% ownership of RF.
• Regions beat Q1 EPS estimates ($0.62 vs. $0.61), reported 5% revenue growth, announced a $0.265 quarterly dividend (annualized yield ~3.8%), and holds a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" with a $30.12 price target.

Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich lowered its holdings in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 99.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,613 shares of the bank's stock after selling 2,054,397 shares during the quarter. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich's holdings in Regions Financial were worth $181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in RF. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Regions Financial by 52.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,523,714 shares of the bank's stock worth $357,417,000 after purchasing an additional 4,679,285 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 286.2% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 4,022,031 shares of the bank's stock worth $106,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,980,505 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 151.2% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,939,544 shares of the bank's stock worth $103,886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,371,048 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Regions Financial by 85.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,625,557 shares of the bank's stock valued at $121,976,000 after acquiring an additional 2,137,062 shares during the period. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY bought a new stake in Regions Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $42,929,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

RF opened at $27.79 on Friday. Regions Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $19.93 and a 1-year high of $31.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $27.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.86. The stock has a market cap of $23.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.03.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.01. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 23.13%.The company had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Regions Financial from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Brean Capital began coverage on Regions Financial in a report on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Evercore cut Regions Financial from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on Regions Financial from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Regions Financial from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.12.

Regions Financial Company Profile

Regions Financial Corporation NYSE: RF is a U.S. bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, that provides a broad range of banking and financial services. Its primary banking subsidiary, Regions Bank, serves retail and commercial customers through a combination of branch and ATM networks, digital channels and relationship-based delivery. The company offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgage origination and servicing, and payment and treasury services.

In addition to core banking, Regions offers wealth management, trust and brokerage services, insurance solutions, and capital markets capabilities to corporate and institutional clients.

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