UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Cuts Stake in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lessened its stake in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF - Free Report) by 5.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,437,733 shares of the bank's stock after selling 520,460 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.93% of Regions Financial worth $196,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Commerce Bank grew its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 392.5% during 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 in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 6.3% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,722,024 shares of the bank's stock worth $40,175,000 after purchasing an additional 102,380 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 47.7% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 275,757 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,666,000 after purchasing an additional 89,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Regions Financial during the third quarter worth about $3,451,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on RF. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Regions Financial from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Stephens raised Regions Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Regions Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Regions Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $26.71.

Regions Financial Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Regions Financial stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $27.26. 4,016,607 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,533,421. The company has a market cap of $24.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $24.50 and a 200-day moving average of $22.10. Regions Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $16.51 and a 12 month high of $27.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. Regions Financial's payout ratio is 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.