Royal Bank of Canada Sells 219,685 Shares of Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Key Points

• The Royal Bank of Canada sold 219,685 shares of Regions Financial Corporation, reducing its stake by 3.0% and now owning 7,164,376 shares, valued at approximately $155.7 million.
• Recent purchases by other investors include a new stake from Betterment LLC valued at around $259,000 and a significant 457.7% increase in holdings by Vident Advisory LLC.
• Regions Financial announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.265 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.9% and reflecting a payout ratio of 46.51%.

Royal Bank of Canada decreased its position in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,164,376 shares of the bank's stock after selling 219,685 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.80% of Regions Financial worth $155,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Betterment LLC purchased a new stake in Regions Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Brasada Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $598,000. Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Regions Financial by 457.7% during the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 197,881 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,300,000 after purchasing an additional 162,397 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Regions Financial by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,075,636 shares of the bank's stock valued at $45,104,000 after purchasing an additional 19,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its position in shares of Regions Financial by 171.6% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 13,228 shares of the bank's stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 8,357 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Regions Financial

In other news, Director Roger W. Jenkins acquired 4,000 shares of Regions Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 $162,638.84. This trade represents a 167.86% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David R. Keenan sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.01, for a total value of $750,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 90,915 shares in the company, 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. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on RF shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Regions Financial in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Regions Financial from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Regions Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on Regions Financial from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Regions Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.33.

Regions Financial Trading Down 1.9%

RF opened at $26.88 on Wednesday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $25.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.82. The company has a market capitalization of $23.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.50, a PEG ratio of 1.58 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 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 released 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. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 21.81%.Regions Financial's quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Analysts forecast that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is an increase from Regions Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.51%.

Regions Financial 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.

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