Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 73,107 Shares of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) by 6.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,138,791 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 73,107 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Regions Financial worth $24,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in RF. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Regions Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $279,103,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Regions Financial by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,468,674 shares of the bank’s stock worth $363,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963,954 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in Regions Financial by 52.7% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,522,612 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $129,892,000 after buying an additional 1,907,121 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Regions Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,480,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Regions Financial by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,658,858 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $227,176,000 after buying an additional 1,247,882 shares in the last quarter. 79.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Regions Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:RF opened at $24.67 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $22.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.37. Regions Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $17.74 and a 12 month high of $27.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.98.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 13.04%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Regions Financial Corporation will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on RF. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Regions Financial from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Regions Financial in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “hold” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Regions Financial from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Regions Financial from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Regions Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.15.

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.