Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,512,902 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 22,036 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of Regions Financial worth $58,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 471,222 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,914,000 after acquiring an additional 5,962 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Regions Financial during the first quarter worth about $287,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 24.2% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 31,513 shares of the bank’s stock worth $663,000 after purchasing an additional 6,144 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in shares of Regions Financial by 3.3% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 1,251,514 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,332,000 after purchasing an additional 40,250 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,114,224 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $23,443,000 after buying an additional 204,571 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Regions Financial Price Performance

RF opened at $26.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.84, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.50. Regions Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $15.79 and a 12-month high of $26.73.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is presently 56.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on RF. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $26.00 in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Regions Financial from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Stephens raised shares of Regions Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $26.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.94.

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.