Legal & General Group Plc Sells 71,542 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its Fifth Third Bancorp stake by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 71,542 shares but still holding 4.32 million shares valued at about $202.2 million.
• Fifth Third Bancorp reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $0.83 per share, far above analyst expectations, though revenue came in slightly below consensus at $2.83 billion.
• Analysts remain constructive on FITB, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a consensus Moderate Buy rating with an average target price of $57.19.

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,319,606 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 71,542 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.65% of Fifth Third Bancorp worth $202,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FITB. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 16.7% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,037,185 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $714,457,000 after purchasing an additional 2,293,939 shares during the period. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 130.6% in the fourth quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 3,367,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $157,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,907,400 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.2% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 30,830,308 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,373,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,803,861 shares during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 99.9% in the fourth quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,250,139 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $152,139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624,138 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 3,358.9% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,667,523 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $78,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619,314 shares during the period. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 0.1%

FITB stock opened at $49.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $48.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.14. The company has a market cap of $45.22 billion, a PE ratio of 16.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.94. Fifth Third Bancorp has a twelve month low of $37.28 and a twelve month high of $55.44.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.87. The company had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 15.89%.During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Fifth Third Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 53.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on FITB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $54.00 target price (down from $57.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Truist Financial set a $57.00 target price on Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kevin J. Khanna sold 6,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.77, for a total transaction of $304,620.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 76,299 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,873,700.23. The trade was a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Peter L. Sefzik sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total value of $1,009,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 189,382 shares in the company, valued at $9,556,215.72. The trade was a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp Profile

Fifth Third Bancorp is a Cincinnati, Ohio–based bank holding company whose primary banking subsidiary operates as Fifth Third Bank. The company provides a broad range of financial services to individual consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies and large corporations. Its business mix includes retail and commercial banking, lending, payment and card services, treasury and cash management, and wealth management and investment advisory services delivered through a combination of branch locations, commercial offices and digital platforms.

On the consumer side, Fifth Third offers deposit accounts, consumer loans, mortgages, auto financing and credit card products, along with digital banking and mobile services.

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