Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 47,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,398 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $2,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FITB. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.1% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $878,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 9.9% during the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.6% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $932,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 51,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,885,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FITB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Baird R W lowered shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com cut Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.09.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FITB stock opened at $46.99 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.61 and a 200-day moving average of $40.41. Fifth Third Bancorp has a one year low of $26.89 and a one year high of $48.10. The stock has a market cap of $31.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $840,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 114,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,805,724. This trade represents a 14.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.