Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,356,107 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 88,939 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.65% of Fifth Third Bancorp worth $170,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FITB. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,959,001 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $715,219,000 after acquiring an additional 285,910 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 14,135,430 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $597,692,000 after purchasing an additional 823,803 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 9,531,485 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $402,991,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027,044 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $371,836,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,074,520 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $299,111,000 after purchasing an additional 798,663 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FITB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. 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 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $42.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, DA Davidson raised Fifth Third Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $42.00 to $47.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.53.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

FITB stock traded down $0.02 on Wednesday, reaching $43.43. The company had a trading volume of 6,101,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,570,470. The company's fifty day moving average is $39.17 and its 200 day moving average is $40.06. The company has a market cap of $28.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1 year low of $32.25 and a 1 year high of $49.07.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 17.65%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Fifth Third Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.98%.

Fifth Third Bancorp Company 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.