Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 17.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,100 shares during the quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 125.0% in the 1st quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $68,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FITB shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.28.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of FITB opened at $44.01 on Wednesday. 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 has a 12 month low of $22.93 and a 12 month high of $45.71. The stock has a market cap of $29.78 billion, a PE ratio of 14.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $42.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.54.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted 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 return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 16.58%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.37 dividend. This is a boost from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 49.17%.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total transaction of $327,525.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,441,720.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $840,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 114,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,805,724. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.