Macquarie Group Ltd. Raises Position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 42.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 117,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,832 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $3,131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Heritage Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the period. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 43.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 124,100.0% in the first quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FITB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $36.00 to $34.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 27th. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Thursday, August 24th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $40.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, June 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

FITB stock opened at $27.13 on Tuesday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a one year low of $22.11 and a one year high of $38.06. The stock has a market cap of $18.47 billion, a PE ratio of 7.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.01). Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 22.66% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, September 30th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This is a boost from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.16%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 37.50%.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp operates as a diversified financial services company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, Consumer and Small Business Banking, and Wealth and Asset Management. The company's Commercial Banking segment offers credit intermediation, cash management, and financial services; lending and depository products; and cash management, foreign exchange and international trade finance, derivatives and capital markets services, asset-based lending, real estate finance, public finance, commercial leasing, and syndicated finance for business, government, and professional customers.