Premier Fund Managers Ltd Takes $6.90 Million Position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 160,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,901,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 13.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 46,596,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,733,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,512,333 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,757,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $356,031,000 after buying an additional 281,494 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.8% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,679,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $371,837,000 after buying an additional 399,827 shares in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.5% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,224,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,278,000 after acquiring an additional 75,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.1% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,731,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,184,000 after acquiring an additional 19,572 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total value of $327,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,441,720.71. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $840,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 114,422 shares in the company, valued at $4,805,724. This trade represents a 14.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Baird R W cut shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.09.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ FITB opened at $46.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Fifth Third Bancorp has a one year low of $26.89 and a one year high of $48.10. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $43.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.54.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.05). Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 14.58%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. This is a positive change from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.17%.

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.