Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 6.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,138,791 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 73,107 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Regions Financial worth $24,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 2,354.9% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,252 shares of the bank's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,201 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Regions Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new position in Regions Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 76.6% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,876 shares of the bank's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 181.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 3,225 shares of the bank's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 2,078 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on RF. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.15.

Regions Financial Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of RF stock traded up $0.33 during trading on Thursday, hitting $24.96. 1,870,256 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,356,402. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $22.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.38. Regions Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $17.74 and a 52-week high of $27.96.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 13.04%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.37 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. Regions Financial's payout ratio is presently 48.08%.

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.