Fifth Third Bancorp Lowers Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Fifth Third Bancorp lowered its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,135,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,487 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $39,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 57.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 737,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,551,000 after purchasing an additional 269,152 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,860,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,413,000 after acquiring an additional 393,937 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 671,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,017,000 after acquiring an additional 27,610 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 591,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,994,000 after acquiring an additional 85,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 460.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 675,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,559,000 after acquiring an additional 555,375 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total value of $971,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,407,751.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $181,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 139,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,072,172.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total value of $971,490.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,407,751.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $37.21. 5,183,981 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,032,834. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $25.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $22.46 and a 52 week high of $37.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.84.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.22. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 18.58%. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 43.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FITB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.72.

Fifth Third Bancorp Profile

Fifth Third Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Fifth Third Bank, National Association that engages in the provision of a range of financial products and services in the United States. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, Consumer and Small Business Banking, and Wealth and Asset Management.