Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Increases Stock Position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 142,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,940 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $5,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 61,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,110,000 after acquiring an additional 3,476 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 57.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 737,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,551,000 after purchasing an additional 269,152 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $2,257,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 88,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,056,000 after buying an additional 21,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, rhino investment partners Inc grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. rhino investment partners Inc now owns 1,301,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,891,000 after buying an additional 217,956 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FITB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $37.50 to $39.50 in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, May 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.26.

Insider Transactions at Fifth Third Bancorp

In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the business’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 value of $93,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 136,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,134,575. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total value 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $540,497.66. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,696,981.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Down 0.6 %

FITB stock opened at $36.27 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $36.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.59. The stock has a market cap of $24.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Fifth Third Bancorp has a twelve month low of $22.49 and a twelve month high of $39.14.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.70% and a return on equity of 16.11%. The business had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 44.44%.

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.