Rafferty Asset Management LLC Buys 7,123 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 236,573 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,123 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $10,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FITB. Norges Bank bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $371,836,000. PL Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 4,128.0% in the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,860,320 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $78,654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,816,320 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,508,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 9,531,485 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $402,991,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,971,000. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 21,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.55, for a total transaction of $945,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 130,856 shares in the company, valued at $5,698,778.80. The trade was a 14.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 17,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total value of $761,272.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 244,487 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,820,994.62. This represents a 6.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $42.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Barclays cut their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.56.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Down 1.1%

FITB stock traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $39.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,544,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,479,880. The company has a market cap of $26.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.89. The business's 50 day moving average price is $36.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12 month low of $32.25 and a 12 month high of $49.07.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.10% and a net margin of 17.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. Fifth Third Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 46.98%.

Fifth Third Bancorp Company Profile

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.