Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Has $1.96 Million Stock Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 0.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $1,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FITB. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 19,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $206,000. 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $200,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 32,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 8,062 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.16.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

FITB stock opened at $43.24 on Friday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1 year low of $22.49 and a 1 year high of $43.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $29.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.16.

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

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a boost from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 46.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,376,880. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total transaction of $835,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,224,883.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,269,920 over the last quarter. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.