Boston Partners Cuts Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Key Points

• Boston Partners sold 1,882,362 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp, reducing its holdings by 13.3% in the first quarter, leaving it with approximately 12.25 million shares worth about $478 million.
• Fifth Third Bancorp's Board of Directors approved a share repurchase plan for up to 100 million shares, indicating a belief that its shares are undervalued.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.37, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.5% and a payout ratio of 45.96%.

Boston Partners reduced its position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) by 13.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,253,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,882,362 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned about 1.84% of Fifth Third Bancorp worth $478,357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the first quarter valued at about $334,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $113,900,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,908,401 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $898,009,000 after acquiring an additional 1,321,554 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 4,271.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,203,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $47,172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,175,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,989,000. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FITB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $42.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. DA Davidson raised shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated 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 on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.80.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FITB traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $42.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,565,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,646,444. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1-year low of $32.25 and a 1-year high of $49.07. The stock has a market cap of $28.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.94. 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Fifth Third Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 45.96%.

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

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.