Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC Makes New $409,000 Investment in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 11,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $409,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $447,000. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $214,000. Smead Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,354,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 70.7% in the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 61,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 3,476 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FITB. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,407,751.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,407,751.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total value of $181,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 139,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,072,172.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FITB traded up $2.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $36.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,812,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,201,311. Fifth Third Bancorp has a one year low of $22.46 and a one year high of $37.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $35.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.78.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 18.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.19 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 43.34%.

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.