KBC Group NV Sells 1,304,161 Shares of Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

KBC Group NV reduced its stake in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 58.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 914,213 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,304,161 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.10% of Regions Financial worth $21,329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Regions Financial by 1.8% during the third 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. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 1.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 42,346 shares of the bank’s stock worth $988,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Regions Financial by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,845 shares of the bank’s stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 2.8% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,267 shares of the bank’s stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 545 shares during the period. Finally, IFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 1.8% during the second quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 30,928 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $620,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Price Performance

NYSE:RF opened at $26.36 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Regions Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $15.79 and a 52 week high of $26.73. The stock has a market cap of $23.96 billion, a PE ratio of 14.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.16.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The bank reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 18.78% and a return on equity of 12.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. Regions Financial’s payout ratio is currently 56.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on RF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Regions Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Argus upgraded Regions Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.18.

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.