Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) Stock Position Decreased by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its stake in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 539,064 shares of the bank's stock after selling 31,500 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.06% of Regions Financial worth $12,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 29.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,729 shares of the bank's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in Regions Financial by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 17,458 shares of the bank's stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 24,928 shares of the bank's stock worth $581,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the period. Prossimo Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 19,270 shares of the bank's stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 24,382 shares of the bank's stock worth $573,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on RF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Regions Financial from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $32.00 price target (up from $28.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Compass Point boosted their price target on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Regions Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Regions Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.67.

Regions Financial Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:RF traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $23.71. The stock had a trading volume of 8,334,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,966,507. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.97. Regions Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $17.72 and a 1-year high of $27.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $21.47 billion, a PE ratio of 12.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Regions Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Regions Financial's payout ratio is currently 51.55%.

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.