AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 43,557 Shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 27.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 200,379 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,557 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $3,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in RF. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Regions Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 75.6% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,435 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 530.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Regions Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. 79.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Regions Financial Price Performance

NYSE:RF opened at $22.84 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $22.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.66. The firm has a market cap of $20.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. Regions Financial Co. has a one year low of $13.72 and a one year high of $23.47.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The bank reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.03. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 18.91%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.76 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Regions Financial’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.01 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This is a positive change from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on RF. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Regions Financial from $24.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Regions Financial from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Regions Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.36.

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.