Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Regions Financial Corporation by 8.1%, now holding 263,612 shares worth approximately $6.54 million.
• Several analysts gave Regions Financial positive upgrades, including Citigroup raising their target price from $30 to $32 and assigning a "buy" rating.
• Regions Financial announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.265 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 4.0%.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 263,612 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 19,643 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Regions Financial were worth $6,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 5.4% during the first quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 304,011 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,606,000 after purchasing an additional 15,652 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 0.9% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,428,091 shares of the bank's stock worth $52,762,000 after purchasing an additional 21,169 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 13.5% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 157,566 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,424,000 after purchasing an additional 18,684 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 62.4% during the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,367 shares of the bank's stock worth $440,000 after purchasing an additional 7,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Regions Financial during the first quarter worth about $272,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on RF shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $27.00 price target (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Regions Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Twelve 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Regions Financial has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.58.

Insider Transactions at Regions Financial

In other Regions Financial news, EVP David R. Keenan sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.01, for a total value of $750,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 90,915 shares in the company, valued at $2,273,784.15. This represents a 24.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Roger W. Jenkins acquired 4,000 shares of Regions Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Regions Financial Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:RF opened at $26.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $23.84 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Regions Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.74 and a fifty-two week high of $27.96. The stock's 50-day moving average is $26.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.20.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 49.30%.

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.

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