Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) Position Boosted by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 87.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,634 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 31,478 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Regions Financial were worth $1,578,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Regions Financial during the first quarter valued at $26,000. American National Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Regions Financial by 1,856.7% in the third quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 1,174 shares of the bank's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 157.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,335 shares of the bank's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 816 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Regions Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on RF. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Argus upgraded shares of Regions Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $26.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Regions Financial from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $25.94.

Regions Financial Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of RF stock traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $26.27. The company had a trading volume of 9,157,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,948,451. The company has a market capitalization of $23.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.16. Regions Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $15.79 and a twelve month high of $26.73. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $23.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.04). Regions Financial had a net margin of 18.78% and a return on equity of 12.60%. 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 company earned $0.49 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.50%.

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.