The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 181,998 Shares of Regions Financial Corporation $RF

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 8.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,888,987 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 181,998 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $49,340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $254,564,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,836,163 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $618,860,000 after buying an additional 9,312,449 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 75.7% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 13,358,969 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $348,936,000 after buying an additional 5,754,487 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in Regions Financial by 286.2% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 4,022,031 shares of the bank’s stock worth $106,061,000 after buying an additional 2,980,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Regions Financial by 151.2% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,939,544 shares of the bank’s stock worth $103,886,000 after buying an additional 2,371,048 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:RF opened at $30.85 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Regions Financial Corporation has a 12-month low of $22.70 and a 12-month high of $32.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.43.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.05. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 23.33%.The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. This is a positive change from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.27%.

Insider Transactions at Regions Financial

In other Regions Financial news, EVP Brian R. Willman sold 7,014 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $195,760.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Regions Financial from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Regions Financial from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Regions Financial from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Regions Financial from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.24.

Regions Financial Company Profile

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) is a U.S. bank holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, that provides a broad range of banking and financial services. Its primary banking subsidiary, Regions Bank, serves retail and commercial customers through a combination of branch and ATM networks, digital channels and relationship-based delivery. The company offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgage origination and servicing, and payment and treasury services.

In addition to core banking, Regions offers wealth management, trust and brokerage services, insurance solutions, and capital markets capabilities to corporate and institutional clients.