Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Grows Stock Holdings in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 35.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 240,143 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,600 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $5,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RF. 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 increased its stake in Regions Financial by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 17,458 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $411,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Regions Financial by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 24,928 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $581,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the period. Prossimo Advisors LLC raised its position in Regions Financial by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 19,270 shares of the bank’s stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 1.8% in the 4th 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. 79.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Regions Financial Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of RF opened at $23.44 on Tuesday. Regions Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.72 and a fifty-two week high of $27.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $24.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $21.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.20.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.27%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on RF shares. Compass Point increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Regions Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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 report on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Regions Financial from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat, Regions Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.