Edgestream Partners L.P. Raises Stock Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) by 1,038.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,057 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 50,219 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P.'s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $2,158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 219,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,266,000 after buying an additional 958 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,139,000. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 101,708 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,964 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 267,758 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,321,000 after purchasing an additional 4,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $268,000. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on FITB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays lowered their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson raised Fifth Third Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $47.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.53.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Fifth Third Bancorp stock traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.03. 7,556,302 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,652,768. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52-week low of $32.25 and a 52-week high of $49.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $28.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.36, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.91.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.03. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 17.97%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Fifth Third Bancorp's payout ratio is 46.98%.

Fifth Third Bancorp declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, June 16th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is 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.