32,700 Shares in Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB Acquired by Board of the Pension Protection Fund

Key Points

• The Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired 32,700 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB), valued at approximately $1,345,000, in the second quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Charles Schwab and Invesco, have raised their stakes in Fifth Third Bancorp, with 83.79% of the stock now owned by hedge funds and institutional investors.
• Fifth Third Bancorp announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.40 per share, up from $0.37, reflecting an annualized yield of 3.9%.

Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 32,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,345,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,908,401 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $898,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,321,554 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 5.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,736,353 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $695,265,000 after purchasing an additional 862,374 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter worth approximately $334,805,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.5% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,510,095 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $255,196,000 after purchasing an additional 279,669 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.1% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,028,501 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $197,117,000 after purchasing an additional 542,934 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on FITB. Stephens increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Argus increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.20.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FITB opened at $41.47 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.72. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1-year low of $32.25 and a 1-year high of $49.07. The firm has a market cap of $27.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Fifth Third Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. This is a positive change from Fifth Third Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.69%.

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.

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