Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Cuts Position in Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its holding in Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.0% in the first quarter, owning approximately 3.40% of the company after selling over 1.4 million shares.
• Fifth Third Bancorp announced a share buyback program allowing for the reacquisition of up to 100 million shares, a sign the board believes the stock is undervalued.
• The company reported a quarterly dividend of $0.37, with a 3.5% yield, indicating strong returns for shareholders.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,692,897 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,454,382 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 3.40% of Fifth Third Bancorp worth $889,563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 91.3% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 748 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 161.8% during the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 788 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 60.7% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 887 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FITB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.80.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ FITB traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $44.36. 4,569,166 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,929,476. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12-month low of $32.25 and a 12-month high of $49.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.85. The firm has a market cap of $29.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.91.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Fifth Third Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 45.96%.

Fifth Third Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, June 16th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Fifth Third Bancorp Company 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.