ProShare Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 202,983 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 17,692 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Regions Financial were worth $4,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of RF. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $279,103,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Regions Financial by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,468,674 shares of the bank's stock valued at $363,823,000 after acquiring an additional 1,963,954 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,183,580 shares of the bank's stock valued at $686,398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,396,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Regions Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $31,480,000. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on RF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Regions Financial from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $25.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joia M. Johnson acquired 2,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.18 per share, for a total transaction of $48,714.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,486 shares of the company's stock, valued at $370,353.48. This represents a 15.15% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Regions Financial Price Performance

Regions Financial stock opened at $22.54 on Tuesday. Regions Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $17.72 and a 12-month high of $27.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $20.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.97.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. Regions Financial had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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