Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB Shares Acquired by Waycross Partners LLC

Key Points

• Waycross Partners increased its Fifth Third Bancorp stake by 349.3% in the third quarter, ending the period with 38,439 shares valued at about $1.94 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 83.79% of the company.
• Analysts have a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $60.87; shares recently traded at $53.14. Fifth Third reported quarterly EPS of $1.13, beating the $0.86 estimate, while revenue rose 42.4% year over year but came in below expectations.
• The bank raised its quarterly dividend from $0.40 to $0.42 per share, equivalent to an annualized dividend of $1.68 and a yield of about 3.2%.

Waycross Partners LLC raised its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) by 349.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,439 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 29,883 shares during the period. Waycross Partners LLC's holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $1,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FITB. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 69.7% during the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 50,783 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,359,000 after buying an additional 20,862 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $995,717,000. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,222,000. Saudi Central Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 91.0% during the 2nd quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 63,390 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,573,000 after acquiring an additional 30,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 115.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 35,927 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,025,000 after acquiring an additional 19,253 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.87.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ FITB traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $53.14. The stock had a trading volume of 6,453,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,261,681. The firm has a market cap of $48.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.98. Fifth Third Bancorp has a twelve month low of $40.68 and a twelve month high of $59.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company's 50 day moving average price is $52.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.15.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.27. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. Fifth Third Bancorp's revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.10 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Fifth Third Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.14, for a total value of $1,062,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 121,460 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,454,384.40. This trade represents a 14.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.51% of the company's stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Company Profile

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.