Regions Financial Corporation $RF Shares Sold by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. trimmed its holdings in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 1.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 172,495 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,336 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $3,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in Regions Financial by 637.3% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,224 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058 shares during the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new stake in Regions Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 76.6% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,876 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 181.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 3,225 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 2,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 30.7% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,346 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up from $24.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Regions Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.33.

Regions Financial Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of RF stock opened at $25.8350 on Thursday. Regions Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $17.74 and a 12 month high of $27.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $24.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.66. The company has a market cap of $23.05 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.01.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 21.81%.The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is a positive change from Regions Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 46.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Regions Financial

In other news, EVP David R. Keenan sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.01, for a total value of $750,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 90,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,273,784.15. This trade represents a 24.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Roger W. Jenkins acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.48 per share, for a total transaction of $101,920.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 6,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $162,638.84. The trade was a 167.86% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.