Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 41,200 Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 41,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,421,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 145.5% during the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 945 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 43.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,219 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on FITB. Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $39.00 price target (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $35.63.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In related news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total value of $971,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 229,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,407,751.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total value of $971,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 229,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,407,751.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $181,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 139,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,072,172.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 5.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB traded up $2.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $36.25. 13,812,465 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,201,311. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.89. The firm has a market cap of $24.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.27. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1-year low of $22.46 and a 1-year high of $37.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 18.58% and a return on equity of 16.25%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Fifth Third Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

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.