Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Shares Acquired by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) by 30.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 196,770 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 46,374 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc's holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $7,713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $205,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 131.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 27,934 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 15,877 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,217,018 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $51,456,000 after acquiring an additional 299,337 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 205.8% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 12,617 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $533,000 after acquiring an additional 8,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 44,491 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on FITB shares. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $47.53.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FITB traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $43.43. 2,874,289 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,585,709. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.91. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52-week low of $32.25 and a 52-week high of $49.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company's 50 day moving average price is $39.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.06.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 13.64%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.98%.

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.