Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp Decreases Stake in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF)

Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp lessened its holdings in Regions Financial Co. (NYSE:RF) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 86,244 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,818 shares during the quarter. Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Regions Financial were worth $2,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of RF. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Regions Financial by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 55,485,987 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,306,813,000 after acquiring an additional 7,791,399 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Regions Financial by 575.8% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,705,273 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,784,000 after buying an additional 1,452,956 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Regions Financial by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,183,580 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $686,398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,396,647 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Regions Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,480,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in Regions Financial by 247.0% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,738,571 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,891,000 after buying an additional 1,237,538 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.39% of the company’s stock.

Regions Financial Price Performance

NYSE:RF opened at $22.09 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.00 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $23.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Regions Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $17.72 and a 52 week high of $27.96.

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. Regions Financial had a net margin of 20.20% and a return on equity of 12.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Regions Financial Co. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Regions Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.53%. Regions Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on RF shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Regions Financial from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $32.00 target price (up previously from $28.00) on shares of Regions Financial in a report on Monday, December 9th. Compass Point lifted their price target on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Regions Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Regions Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.67.

Regions Financial Profile

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.