Bank of Montreal Can Sells 137,848 Shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Bank of Montreal Can cut its holdings in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,738,988 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 137,848 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.52% of Regions Financial worth $95,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,704,755 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,281,118,000 after buying an additional 3,119,237 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 281.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 79,593 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,675,000 after acquiring an additional 58,739 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its position in shares of Regions Financial by 1,676.8% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 93,711 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,816,000 after purchasing an additional 88,437 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 1,075.7% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 44,781 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 40,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 30.9% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 415,105 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,734,000 after purchasing an additional 98,003 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Regions Financial Stock Up 0.0 %

Regions Financial stock opened at $22.92 on Wednesday. Regions Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $13.72 and a twelve month high of $23.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.14 and a 200-day moving average of $20.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.17.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 18.91%. The company’s revenue was down 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Co. will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. This is an increase from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 54.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Regions Financial from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wedbush upgraded shares of Regions Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $28.00 in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.06.

Regions Financial 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.