Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Shares Acquired by Boston Common Asset Management LLC

Boston Common Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 309,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,203 shares during the quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $13,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,774,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $889,978,000 after acquiring an additional 732,651 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,490,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 896.7% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 648,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,678,000 after purchasing an additional 583,781 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 76.2% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 1,330,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,005,000 after purchasing an additional 575,449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,476,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $242,713,000 after buying an additional 409,292 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total transaction of $327,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,441,720.71. This trade represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FITB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Baird R W lowered shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.92.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FITB traded up $0.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.94. 771,992 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,612,238. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $45.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.76. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1-year low of $32.29 and a 1-year high of $49.07. 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 (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.05). Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 16.58%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.