Regions Financial Corporation $RF Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its stake in Regions by 2.5% in Q3, selling 88,078 shares and now holds 3,478,706 shares valued at about $91.73 million (≈0.40% of the company).
• Regions missed quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $0.57 (down $0.04 vs. consensus) and revenue of $1.92 billion (vs. $1.94B expected), though revenue was up 5.8% year-over-year.
• The board approved a $3.0 billion share buyback (up to ~12.9% of shares) and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.265 per share (annualized $1.06, ~3.9% yield); EVP William D. Ritter also sold 36,000 shares.

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its stake in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,478,706 shares of the bank's stock after selling 88,078 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.40% of Regions Financial worth $91,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of RF. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Regions Financial by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,484,310 shares of the bank's stock valued at $740,511,000 after acquiring an additional 391,568 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Regions Financial by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,794,677 shares of the bank's stock valued at $557,370,000 after buying an additional 109,549 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 52.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,523,714 shares of the bank's stock worth $357,417,000 after acquiring an additional 4,679,285 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Regions Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $246,790,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 2.6% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,205,989 shares of the bank's stock worth $241,289,000 after acquiring an additional 233,458 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Regions Financial Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:RF opened at $26.97 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $23.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.02. Regions Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $17.74 and a 52-week high of $31.53. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $28.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.91.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 16th. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.04). Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.55% and a net margin of 22.44%.The company had revenue of $1.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Regions Financial's payout ratio is 46.29%.

Regions Financial announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to repurchase up to 12.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on RF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Regions Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore lowered shares of Regions Financial from an "in-line" rating to an "underperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.97.

Insider Activity at Regions Financial

In other news, EVP William D. Ritter sold 36,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.78, for a total value of $1,036,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 17,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $505,635.82. The trade was a 67.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Regions Financial Profile

Regions Financial Corporation NYSE: RF is a U.S. bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, that provides a broad range of banking and financial services. Its primary banking subsidiary, Regions Bank, serves retail and commercial customers through a combination of branch and ATM networks, digital channels and relationship-based delivery. The company offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgage origination and servicing, and payment and treasury services.

In addition to core banking, Regions offers wealth management, trust and brokerage services, insurance solutions, and capital markets capabilities to corporate and institutional clients.

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