Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Lowers Stock Position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lowered its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 42.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 752,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 545,800 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $29,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 91.3% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 161.8% in the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 788 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 60.7% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Cowen initiated coverage on Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Citigroup cut their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.53.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB opened at $43.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.36, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.08. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $32.25 and a 52 week high of $49.07.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.03. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 17.97%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 45.96%.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

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.