Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Shares Sold by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV trimmed its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 10.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,004,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 236,972 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $78,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 14,135,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $597,692,000 after acquiring an additional 823,803 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,046,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,535,000 after acquiring an additional 438,446 shares during the last quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 232,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,843,000 after acquiring an additional 9,401 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $357,000. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,011,000. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.53.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of FITB opened at $41.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.90. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $32.25 and a fifty-two week high of $49.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50-day moving average is $38.09 and its 200-day moving average is $40.12.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 17.65%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, June 16th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.98%.

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.