Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Increases Stock Holdings in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its stake in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 130.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 124,421 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 70,318 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings in Regions Financial were worth $2,494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the first quarter worth $26,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Regions Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Regions Financial by 75.6% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,435 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in Regions Financial by 530.0% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Regions Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on RF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Regions Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.51.

Regions Financial Price Performance

Shares of Regions Financial stock traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $23.42. The company had a trading volume of 13,068,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,020,123. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Regions Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $13.72 and a 1-year high of $23.47. The company has a market capitalization of $21.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.98.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. Regions Financial had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 18.91%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Regions Financial Co. will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

Regions Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This is an increase from Regions Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. Regions Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.35%.

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.