Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $263,000 in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 11,186 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in RF. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Regions Financial by 20.0% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,247,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 263,131 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,220,000 after purchasing an additional 99,115 shares during the period. Commerce Bank grew its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 392.5% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 248,325 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,793,000 after purchasing an additional 197,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its holdings in Regions Financial by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,722,024 shares of the bank's stock valued at $40,175,000 after purchasing an additional 102,380 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Regions Financial Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of RF traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $24.48. The company had a trading volume of 5,209,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,380,478. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $24.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.57. Regions Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $17.42 and a 52-week high of $27.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.01. Regions Financial had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1,857,300 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Compass Point increased their price objective on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stephens raised Regions Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Regions Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.