Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) Holdings Cut by Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 77,215 shares of the bank's stock after selling 37,792 shares during the quarter. Regions Financial accounts for 0.5% of Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $1,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 281.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 79,593 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,675,000 after acquiring an additional 58,739 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Regions Financial by 1,075.7% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 44,781 shares of the bank's stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 40,972 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Regions Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $19,322,000. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Regions Financial by 6.3% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,722,024 shares of the bank's stock worth $40,175,000 after acquiring an additional 102,380 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Regions Financial by 47.7% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 275,757 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,666,000 after acquiring an additional 89,045 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Regions Financial Stock Up 0.3 %

RF stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $26.36. The stock had a trading volume of 9,222,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,954,200. Regions Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $15.79 and a 1-year high of $26.73. The company has a market capitalization of $23.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.89, a PEG ratio of 2.73 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 fifty day moving average price of $23.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.53.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.80 billion. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 18.78%. Regions Financial's revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on RF. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Regions Financial from $24.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Argus raised Regions Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Regions Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup increased their price target on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Regions Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.18.

Regions Financial Profile

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.