Joseph Group Capital Management Increases Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Joseph Group Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) by 13.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 74,091 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,873 shares during the quarter. Joseph Group Capital Management's holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $2,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 14,135,430 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $597,692,000 after buying an additional 823,803 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,046,701 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $86,535,000 after buying an additional 438,446 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 818,564 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,088,000 after acquiring an additional 12,905 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $1,011,000. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 49.5% during the 1st quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 47,392 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,858,000 after purchasing an additional 15,692 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Baird R W upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $42.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.53.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Down 0.0%

FITB traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $43.75. 5,134,884 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,918,655. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.91. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $39.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.05. 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 has a 1-year low of $32.25 and a 1-year high of $49.07.

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

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. 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 declared that its board has authorized a stock 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. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's management 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.