Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Acquires 24,979 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) by 11.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 249,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 24,979 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $9,765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $332,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 78,415 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,489,000 after acquiring an additional 7,315 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 322,420 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,632,000 after acquiring an additional 4,326 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 37,559 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,588,000 after acquiring an additional 16,136 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,035 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the period. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on FITB shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $43.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $42.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $47.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.53.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ FITB traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $39.34. The stock had a trading volume of 10,183,606 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,504,741. The business's 50 day moving average is $37.45 and its 200-day moving average is $40.32. The company has a market cap of $26.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.90. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $32.25 and a 52 week high of $49.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. Fifth Third Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.98%.

Fifth Third Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

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.