Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF)

Key Points

• Thornburg Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Regions Financial Corporation by 10.9%, now holding approximately 4.6 million shares valued at around $99.87 million.
• Regions Financial's recent dividend of $0.265 per share, up from $0.25, represents an annual yield of 4.03% and will be paid on October 1st.
• Analysts have upgraded Regions Financial's stock rating from "sell" to "hold," with price targets increased by firms like Stephens and Morgan Stanley to as high as $31.00.

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 10.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,596,096 shares of the bank's stock after selling 564,955 shares during the period. Regions Financial comprises 1.4% of Thornburg Investment Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. owned 0.51% of Regions Financial worth $99,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 47.0% in the first quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 58,351 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 18,645 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of Regions Financial in the first quarter valued at $426,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 16.1% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 6,444 shares of the bank's stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Regions Financial during the 1st quarter worth $276,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 17.5% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 144,285 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,135,000 after purchasing an additional 21,510 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Regions Financial Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of RF traded down $0.46 on Friday, hitting $24.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,880,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,771,354. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $23.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.58. Regions Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.74 and a fifty-two week high of $27.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.98.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 21.81%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a $0.265 dividend. This is a boost from Regions Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio is 46.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.33.

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.