1832 Asset Management L.P. Trims Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

1832 Asset Management L.P. lowered its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 12.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 58,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,451 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $2,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FITB. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 34.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,083,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,416,985,000 after acquiring an additional 10,472,392 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $257,189,000. Smead Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $67,354,000. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 14,575,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $502,719,000 after acquiring an additional 1,499,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 341.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,928,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,521,000 after acquiring an additional 1,492,124 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FITB. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 target price (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.15.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ FITB traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $42.27. 2,970,128 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,964,216. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $37.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.24. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $22.49 and a 52 week high of $42.31.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 17.41%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total transaction of $93,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 136,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,134,575. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total transaction of $93,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 136,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,134,575. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total value of $835,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,224,883.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 37,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,523,670. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.