Norges Bank Makes New $649.26 Million Investment in Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,870,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $649,264,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 100.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 501.9% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. United Community Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 581.0% during the third quarter. United Community Bank now owns 681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 619.6% during the fourth quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

FITB stock opened at $49.93 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $45.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12-month low of $37.28 and a 12-month high of $55.44. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.24.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.87. The business had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 12.39%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 53.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on FITB shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore lifted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $53.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Peter L. Sefzik sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total value of $1,009,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 189,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,556,215.72. The trade was a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kevin J. Khanna sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.77, for a total transaction of $304,620.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 76,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,873,700.23. The trade was a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp is a Cincinnati, Ohio–based bank holding company whose primary banking subsidiary operates as Fifth Third Bank. The company provides a broad range of financial services to individual consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies and large corporations. Its business mix includes retail and commercial banking, lending, payment and card services, treasury and cash management, and wealth management and investment advisory services delivered through a combination of branch locations, commercial offices and digital platforms.

On the consumer side, Fifth Third offers deposit accounts, consumer loans, mortgages, auto financing and credit card products, along with digital banking and mobile services.