Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 119,600 Shares of Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. cut its stake in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 34.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 229,600 shares of the bank's stock after selling 119,600 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.'s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $4,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RF. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in Regions Financial by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 123,728 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,910,000 after purchasing an additional 15,156 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Regions Financial by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 292,379 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,877,000 after buying an additional 18,489 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Regions Financial by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 44,502 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 3,492 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position 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 buying an additional 1,907,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Regions Financial by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 546,046 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,843,000 after purchasing an additional 79,806 shares during the period. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Regions Financial

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

Regions Financial Trading Up 0.3%

RF stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.12. 5,936,814 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,822,922. The company has a market cap of $24.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.02. Regions Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $17.74 and a 52-week high of $27.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock's fifty day moving average is $25.86 and its 200-day moving average is $22.97.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 21.81%.The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. This is an increase from Regions Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on RF. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Regions Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and set a $27.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Monday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. 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 report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.47.

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.