LMR Partners LLP Makes New Investment in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 78,197 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,824,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 15,187,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 151,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,543,000 after buying an additional 151,870 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank increased its position in shares of Regions Financial by 1.8% during the third quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 75,696 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,766,000 after buying an additional 1,321 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Regions Financial by 9.2% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 79,453 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,855,000 after buying an additional 6,665 shares during the period. Tower Bridge Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Regions Financial during the third quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Regions Financial by 9.0% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 146,031 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,407,000 after purchasing an additional 12,033 shares during the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Regions Financial Price Performance

NYSE RF opened at $26.33 on Tuesday. Regions Financial Co. has a one year low of $15.79 and a one year high of $26.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.61 and a 200 day moving average of $21.61. The company has a market capitalization of $23.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 18.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.1 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on RF shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of 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 research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Regions Financial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Regions Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Argus raised Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.18.

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.