Amalgamated Bank Raises Stake in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 7.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 262,370 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 18,261 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $5,258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in Regions Financial by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 30,504 shares of the bank’s stock worth $611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 9.5% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 125,730 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,634,000 after acquiring an additional 10,871 shares during the period. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. acquired a new position in Regions Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Regions Financial by 7.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,252,693 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $285,562,000 after acquiring an additional 979,597 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in Regions Financial by 70.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 35,111 shares of the bank’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 14,499 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on RF shares. Bank of America boosted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Regions Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.69.

Regions Financial Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of RF opened at $23.11 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.41. Regions Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $13.72 and a 12-month high of $23.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $21.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.35%.

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.