Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 26.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 848,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 300,582 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $35,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,774,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $889,978,000 after acquiring an additional 732,651 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,476,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $242,713,000 after acquiring an additional 409,292 shares during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.5% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,224,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,278,000 after acquiring an additional 75,024 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 10.0% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 1,737,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,450,000 after acquiring an additional 158,067 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.1% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,731,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,184,000 after acquiring an additional 19,572 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 21,700 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.55, for a total value of $945,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 130,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,698,778.80. This trade represents a 14.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 17,200 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total value of $761,272.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 244,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,820,994.62. The trade was a 6.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on FITB. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, February 10th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.75.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB opened at $43.01 on Wednesday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1-year low of $33.03 and a 1-year high of $49.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $43.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.72. The company has a market capitalization of $28.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 47.13%.

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.