Norges Bank Takes Position in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,855,458 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $210,379,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.17% of Regions Financial as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in Regions Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $1,944,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Regions Financial by 126.3% in the third quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 26,436 shares of the bank’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 14,756 shares during the period. abrdn plc increased its stake in Regions Financial by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 2,350,151 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,546,000 after purchasing an additional 341,878 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC increased its stake in Regions Financial by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 153,136 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,968,000 after purchasing an additional 40,200 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Regions Financial by 52.5% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,012,651 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,625,000 after purchasing an additional 348,636 shares during the period. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Regions Financial Trading Down 2.2 %

Regions Financial stock opened at $19.46 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market capitalization of $17.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.21. Regions Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $13.72 and a 52 week high of $21.08.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.75 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 19.75% and a return on equity of 13.28%. The firm’s revenue was down 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Co. will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Regions Financial from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Regions Financial from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup upgraded Regions Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $20.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Regions Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Regions Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.34.

Insider Activity at Regions Financial

In related news, Director William C. Rhodes III purchased 50,000 shares of Regions Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.37 per share, for a total transaction of $968,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $968,500. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP William D. Ritter sold 23,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.95, for a total value of $458,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,671 shares in the company, valued at $831,336.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William C. Rhodes III acquired 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.37 per share, with a total value of $968,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $968,500. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.