Norges Bank Buys New Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

Key Points

• Norges Bank disclosed a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp, buying 13.87 million shares valued at about $649.3 million, or roughly 2.10% of the company.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on FITB, with 17 Buy ratings and 4 Hold ratings; the stock’s average analyst target is $57.19, implying modest upside from current levels.
• Fifth Third reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings of $0.83 per share versus estimates of a loss, while also paying a $0.40 quarterly dividend that annualizes to a 3.2% yield.

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 13,870,195 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $649,264,000. Norges Bank owned about 2.10% of Fifth Third Bancorp as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FITB. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 40.5% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 56,592 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,218,000 after purchasing an additional 16,323 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 45.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,428 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 5.0% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,252 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $968,000. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FITB has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Peter L. Sefzik sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $1,009,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 189,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,556,215.72. The trade was a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kevin J. Khanna sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,873,700.23. The trade was a 7.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.51% of the company's stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB opened at $49.93 on Monday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $48.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1 year low of $37.28 and a 1 year high of $55.44.

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

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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%.

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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