Challenger Wealth Management Invests $323,000 in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Challenger Wealth Management bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,641 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $323,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $371,836,000. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 4,128.0% in the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,860,320 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $78,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,816,320 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $53,508,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 9,531,485 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $402,991,000 after buying an additional 1,027,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $38,971,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company's stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

FITB stock traded down $0.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $38.05. The stock had a trading volume of 1,407,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,493,899. The company's 50 day moving average price is $36.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.33. 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 $25.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.03. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.43% and a return on equity of 14.10%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Fifth Third Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on FITB. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays lowered 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. Baird R W raised shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.78.

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.