Townsquare Capital LLC Takes $606,000 Position in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC has invested approximately $606,000 in Regions Financial Corporation by acquiring 27,904 shares in the first quarter of the year.
• Regions Financial recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.265 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 4.1% and a payout ratio of 46.51%.
• The stock has performed well, with earnings per share (EPS) of $0.60 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and it has seen a revenue increase of 10.1% year-over-year.

Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 27,904 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $606,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in RF. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of Regions Financial by 637.3% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,224 shares of the bank's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,058 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in shares of Regions Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Regions Financial by 76.6% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,876 shares of the bank's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Regions Financial by 30.7% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,346 shares of the bank's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in shares of Regions Financial by 181.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 3,225 shares of the bank's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 2,078 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Regions Financial Trading Down 0.6%

RF traded down $0.1440 during trading on Thursday, reaching $25.7160. 14,219,341 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,817,477. Regions Financial Corporation has a one year low of $17.74 and a one year 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 has a market capitalization of $22.95 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $24.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.67.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. Regions Financial had a net margin of 21.81% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% 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 Increases Dividend

The firm 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 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is a positive change from Regions Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Regions Financial's payout ratio is presently 46.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Regions Financial news, Director Roger W. Jenkins bought 4,000 shares of Regions Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.48 per share, with a total value of $101,920.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,383 shares of the company's stock, valued at $162,638.84. The trade was a 167.86% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David R. Keenan sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on RF shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Regions Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. 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 for the company. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.33.

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.