Blue Trust Inc. Grows Stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 318.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,135 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 13.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 46,596,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,733,847,000 after acquiring an additional 5,512,333 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,757,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $356,031,000 after purchasing an additional 281,494 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,434,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $165,015,000 after purchasing an additional 99,593 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,701,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,096,000 after buying an additional 56,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 37.2% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,629,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,632,000 after buying an additional 442,121 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.28.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FITB opened at $44.06 on Friday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $22.49 and a fifty-two week high of $45.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $42.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.99, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.22.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.05). Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 17.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.37 dividend. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 46.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $840,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 114,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,805,724. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.