Bank of Montreal Can Reduces Holdings in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its position in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,676,184 shares of the bank's stock after selling 62,804 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.51% of Regions Financial worth $107,693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 1.8% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 24,928 shares of the bank's stock worth $581,000 after buying an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 42,346 shares of the bank's stock worth $988,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Regions Financial by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,845 shares of the bank's stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 5.9% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 9,768 shares of the bank's stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Regions Financial by 2.8% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,267 shares of the bank's stock valued at $473,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the period. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on RF. Citigroup raised their price target on Regions Financial from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Regions Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Regions Financial from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.71.

Regions Financial Stock Performance

Regions Financial stock opened at $27.30 on Wednesday. Regions Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $15.79 and a 1-year high of $27.96. The firm has a market cap of $24.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $24.25 and a 200-day moving average of $21.96.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.04). Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 18.78%. The business 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 earned $0.49 EPS. The business's revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. 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.

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