Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Lowers Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund decreased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 37.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,619 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $1,011,000. Midwest Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 10.1% during the first quarter. Midwest Financial Group LLC now owns 15,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,398 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $2,803,000. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.4% during the first quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 19,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Resource Group boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.9% during the first quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 122,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,808,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Cowen began coverage on Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.53.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ FITB opened at $40.59 on Wednesday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a twelve month low of $32.25 and a twelve month high of $49.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.90.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.03. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 17.65%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Monday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 46.98%.

Fifth Third Bancorp 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.