Regions Financial Corporation $RF Stake Raised by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Regions Financial Corporation by 3.9%, owning approximately 0.15% of the bank with a value of $30.2 million after acquiring additional shares.
• Regions Financial's quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $0.60, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenues up 10.1% year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.265, indicating an increase from the previous $0.25 dividend, representing a 4.0% yield annually.

Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,391,265 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 52,835 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Regions Financial worth $30,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RF. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 35.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,990,446 shares of the bank's stock valued at $456,122,000 after purchasing an additional 5,521,772 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $53,018,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,092,742 shares of the bank's stock valued at $675,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,909,162 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 52.7% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,522,612 shares of the bank's stock valued at $129,892,000 after purchasing an additional 1,907,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,726,000. 79.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Regions Financial

In other Regions Financial news, Director Roger W. Jenkins bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.48 per share, for a total transaction of $101,920.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 6,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $162,638.84. This trade represents a 167.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David R. Keenan sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.01, for a total transaction of $750,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 90,915 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,273,784.15. The trade was a 24.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Cowen assumed coverage on Regions Financial in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Regions Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up from $24.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.33.

Regions Financial Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE:RF traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $27.46. 9,451,187 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,417,260. Regions Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $17.74 and a 52-week high of $27.96. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.76. The firm has a market cap of $24.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is a positive change from Regions Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio is 46.51%.

Regions Financial 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.