Guggenheim Capital LLC Trims Stock Position in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Key Points

• Guggenheim Capital LLC reduced its holdings in Regions Financial Corporation by 2.1%, owning 512,084 shares after selling 11,118 shares during the first quarter.
• Regions Financial announced a quarterly dividend of $0.265, reflecting an increase from the previous $0.25, with a yield of 3.9%.
• Wall Street analysts have given Regions Financial a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $27.33, indicating potential growth in the stock's value.

Guggenheim Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 512,084 shares of the bank's stock after selling 11,118 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Regions Financial worth $11,128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 637.3% during the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,224 shares of the bank's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Groupe la Francaise bought a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 76.6% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,876 shares of the bank's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 30.7% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,346 shares of the bank's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Regions Financial Stock Up 0.3%

RF traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $27.42. The stock had a trading volume of 15,961,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,463,792. The company has a market capitalization of $24.46 billion, a PE ratio of 12.75, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.02. Regions Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $17.74 and a twelve month high of $27.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.77.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.60 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 business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is an increase 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 payout ratio is presently 46.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Regions Financial

In related news, Director Roger W. Jenkins acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.48 per share, for a total transaction of $101,920.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 6,383 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $162,638.84. This represents a 167.86% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP David R. Keenan sold 30,000 shares of Regions Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was 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 $2,273,784.15. The trade was a 24.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Cowen started coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $27.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.