Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 49,862 Shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its position in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 30.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,983 shares of the bank's stock after selling 49,862 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Regions Financial were worth $2,455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prossimo Advisors LLC boosted its position in Regions Financial by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 19,270 shares of the bank's stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 19,173 shares of the bank's stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 22,291 shares of the bank's stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,316 shares of the bank's stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 18.6% during the first quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 3,641 shares of the bank's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Regions Financial Trading Down 2.7%

RF traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $21.47. The stock had a trading volume of 10,896,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,190,654. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $20.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.96. Regions Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $17.74 and a 1-year high of $27.96.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio is 48.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. 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. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $25.80.

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.