Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys Shares of 235,228 Regions Financial Corporation $RF

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 235,228 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $7,104,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Regions Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $254,564,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 raised its position in Regions Financial by 75.7% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Korea Investment CORP acquired a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the second quarter valued at about $99,190,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 286.2% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 4,022,031 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $106,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,980,505 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Stock Up 0.4%

RF stock opened at $30.74 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $26.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Regions Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $22.70 and a 1-year high of $32.47. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.81.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 23.33% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on RF. Robert W. Baird restated an “underperform” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Monday, July 20th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Regions Financial from $31.50 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.24.

About Regions Financial

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.