Apollon Wealth Management LLC Lowers Position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) by 34.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,895 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 10,952 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. REAP Financial Group LLC grew its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 161.8% in the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 788 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 60.7% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 887 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens National Bank Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on FITB shares. Cowen began coverage on Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $43.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.53.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Monday, reaching $42.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,847,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,647,556. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52-week low of $32.25 and a 52-week high of $49.07. The company has a market cap of $28.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.91. The firm's 50-day moving average is $40.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.17 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.97% and a return on equity of 13.31%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, June 16th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Fifth Third Bancorp's payout ratio is 45.96%.

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.