Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB Shares Purchased by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Key Points

• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its Fifth Third Bancorp stake by 69.4% in the first quarter, buying 85,903 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 209,658 shares valued at about $9.74 million.
• Several other institutional investors also increased positions, and institutions and hedge funds now own 83.79% of the company’s shares, indicating broad institutional interest in FITB.
• Fifth Third reported strong quarterly earnings of $0.83 per share, beating estimates, while analysts remain generally positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $59.11.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) by 69.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 209,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 85,903 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $9,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $649,264,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 41.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 35,548,204 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,664,013,000 after acquiring an additional 10,444,799 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 719.2% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,012,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $140,993,000 after purchasing an additional 2,644,332 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 23,799,312 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,114,046,000 after purchasing an additional 2,574,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,037,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $714,457,000 after purchasing an additional 2,293,939 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Peter L. Sefzik sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kevin J. Khanna sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 7.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FITB opened at $57.19 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.90. 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 has a 1 year low of $40.04 and a 1 year high of $58.51. The company's fifty day moving average is $52.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.35.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.20. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The company had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.11.

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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