Empirical Finance LLC Buys 669 Shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,560 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 669 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in RF. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Regions Financial in the first quarter valued at $26,000. American National Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 1,856.7% during the 3rd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in Regions Financial by 157.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,335 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 816 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in Regions Financial by 530.0% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Regions Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on RF. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $24.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stephens upgraded shares of Regions Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock 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 increased their target price for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Regions Financial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.18.

Regions Financial Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of RF opened at $26.36 on Friday. Regions Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $15.79 and a 1-year high of $26.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $23.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

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). Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 18.78%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.1 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.