Foster & Motley Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Foster & Motley Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 951 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 125.0% during the first quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 130.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 134,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,376,880. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,376,880. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,224,883.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,500 shares of company stock worth $2,269,920 over the last three months. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FITB opened at $40.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $27.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.92, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.22. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1 year low of $22.49 and a 1 year high of $42.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

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

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on FITB. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com raised Fifth Third Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.56.

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.