Employees Retirement System of Texas Sells 30,700 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

Key Points

• Employees Retirement System of Texas trimmed its Fifth Third Bancorp stake by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 30,700 shares but still holding 1,714,700 shares valued at about $80.3 million.
• Wall Street remains generally bullish on FITB, with 17 Buy ratings and four Hold ratings, giving the stock a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a price target of $57.19.
• Fifth Third Bancorp reported strong quarterly earnings of $0.83 per share, beating expectations, and recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, implying a 3.2% annualized yield.

Employees Retirement System of Texas reduced its position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,714,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 30,700 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.26% of Fifth Third Bancorp worth $80,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 4,261 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $199,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,870 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 64,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,015,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,686 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthquest Corp lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.3% in the third quarter. Wealthquest Corp now owns 11,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $493,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on FITB shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Evercore boosted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kevin J. Khanna sold 6,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.77, for a total value of $304,620.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 76,299 shares in the company, valued at $3,873,700.23. This trade represents a 7.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Peter L. Sefzik sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total value of $1,009,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 189,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,556,215.72. The trade was a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company's stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB opened at $49.82 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $45.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $48.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.09. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12-month low of $37.28 and a 12-month high of $55.44.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.87. The company had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 12.39%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Fifth Third Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.69%.

Fifth Third Bancorp Company Profile

Fifth Third Bancorp is a Cincinnati, Ohio–based bank holding company whose primary banking subsidiary operates as Fifth Third Bank. The company provides a broad range of financial services to individual consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies and large corporations. Its business mix includes retail and commercial banking, lending, payment and card services, treasury and cash management, and wealth management and investment advisory services delivered through a combination of branch locations, commercial offices and digital platforms.

On the consumer side, Fifth Third offers deposit accounts, consumer loans, mortgages, auto financing and credit card products, along with digital banking and mobile services.

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