Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Cuts Stock Position in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF)

Key Points

• Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd reduced its stake in Regions Financial Corporation by 74.2%, holding 15,350 shares valued at $334,000 after selling 44,219 shares in the first quarter.
• Regions Financial's earnings surpassed analyst expectations, reporting $0.60 EPS against a forecast of $0.56, with a revenue increase of 10.1% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.265 per share, yielding approximately 4.05%, with an ex-dividend date set for September 2nd.

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 74.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,350 shares of the bank's stock after selling 44,219 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's holdings in Regions Financial were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RF. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Regions Financial by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 277,934 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,537,000 after buying an additional 3,155 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Regions Financial by 149.2% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 22,419 shares of the bank's stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 13,423 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp bought a new stake in shares of Regions Financial during the 4th quarter worth $641,000. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in Regions Financial by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,128,242 shares of the bank's stock valued at $26,694,000 after purchasing an additional 196,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 211,643 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,980,000 after buying an additional 63,720 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Regions Financial stock traded down $0.50 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $25.69. 17,970,684 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,920,073. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.98. Regions Financial Corporation has a one year low of $17.74 and a one year high of $27.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 13.08%. Regions Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.265 dividend. This is a positive change from Regions Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Regions Financial's payout ratio is currently 46.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on RF shares. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Regions Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Regions Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Regions Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.33.

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.