Fiduciary Alliance LLC Invests $938,000 in Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

Key Points

• Fiduciary Alliance LLC initiated a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp, buying 18,818 shares valued at about $938,000 in the first quarter.
• Institutional ownership in FITB remains heavy, with hedge funds and other investors holding 83.79% of the company; several firms also increased their stakes recently.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $57.74, while Fifth Third also recently beat EPS estimates and declared a $0.40 quarterly dividend.

Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 18,818 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $938,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FITB. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 18.0% during the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 161,369 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,189,000 after purchasing an additional 24,566 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,276,429 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $59,788,000 after purchasing an additional 39,261 shares in the last quarter. Robinhood Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,529,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,931,624 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $353,354,000 after buying an additional 690,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,947,246 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $175,850,000 after purchasing an additional 840,094 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on FITB shares. Zacks Research downgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 20th. Barclays raised their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Evercore boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $53.00 to $58.00 in a report on Wednesday. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Up 0.1%

FITB stock opened at $56.47 on Friday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $40.04 and a 52 week high of $56.77. The company has a market capitalization of $51.18 billion, a PE ratio of 18.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.92. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $50.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.20. The firm 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.69%.

Fifth Third Bancorp 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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