Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Raises Position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 289,529 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 36,886 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc's holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $12,241,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO James C. Leonard sold 17,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total transaction of $761,272.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 244,487 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,820,994.62. This trade represents a 6.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 21,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.55, for a total value of $945,035.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 130,856 shares in the company, valued at $5,698,778.80. This trade represents a 14.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FITB has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.56.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of FITB stock traded up $0.15 on Friday, reaching $39.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,128,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,470,634. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12-month low of $32.25 and a 12-month high of $49.07. The company has a market capitalization of $26.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.89. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $36.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.78.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.03. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.10% and a net margin of 17.43%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. Fifth Third Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.98%.

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.