Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Buys 537,799 Shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 186.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 826,098 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 537,799 shares during the quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $19,430,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Regions Financial by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 17,458 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Regions Financial by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 19,270 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in Regions Financial by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 24,382 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in Regions Financial by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 19,173 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Regions Financial by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 70,822 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,666,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Regions Financial from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Regions Financial from $29.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Regions Financial from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.53.

Insider Activity at Regions Financial

In related news, Director Joia M. Johnson purchased 2,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $21.18 per share, with a total value of $48,714.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $370,353.48. This trade represents a 15.15 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Regions Financial Price Performance

RF opened at $20.52 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Regions Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $17.72 and a 12 month high of $27.96. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.42. The stock has a market cap of $18.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.01.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 12.83%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.08%.

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.