Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 0.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,512,902 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 22,036 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $58,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Regions Financial Stock Performance

RF stock opened at $26.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Regions Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $15.79 and a 1 year high of $26.73. The company has a market cap of $23.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $23.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.50.

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 analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is presently 56.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on RF shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Regions Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Regions Financial from $24.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.94.

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.