Alberta Investment Management Corp Raises Stock Position in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its stake in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 61.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,900 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 61,700 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings in Regions Financial were worth $3,831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Regions Financial by 20.0% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,519,299 shares of the bank's stock valued at $35,445,000 after buying an additional 253,708 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Regions Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,247,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Regions Financial by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 263,131 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,220,000 after purchasing an additional 99,115 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank grew its position in shares of Regions Financial by 392.5% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 248,325 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,793,000 after purchasing an additional 197,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Regions Financial by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 1,479,865 shares of the bank's stock valued at $34,806,000 after purchasing an additional 250,729 shares during the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Regions Financial Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:RF traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $23.44. 7,279,662 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,934,373. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $21.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.20. Regions Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $17.72 and a 52-week high of $27.96. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.96.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 12.83%. Regions Financial's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on RF. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $32.00 price target (up from $28.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.67.

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.