Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 17,040 Shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Foster & Motley Inc. lessened its holdings in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 15.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 91,926 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 17,040 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $2,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of RF. American National Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 1,856.7% in the 3rd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Regions Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 157.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,335 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Regions Financial by 530.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Regions Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Regions Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus upgraded Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $24.00 to $26.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.45.

Regions Financial Stock Up 11.4 %

NYSE:RF opened at $26.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Regions Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $14.86 and a 1-year high of $26.33. The company has a 50-day moving average of $23.18 and a 200 day moving average of $21.28. The firm has a market cap of $24.08 billion, a PE ratio of 14.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.16.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 18.78% and a return on equity of 12.60%. Regions Financial’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is 56.50%.

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.