Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 538,155 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 0.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 83,311,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 538,155 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Fifth Third Bancorp worth $3,711,535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,306,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $958,614,000 after buying an additional 398,517 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 16.6% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,677,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $850,473,000 after acquiring an additional 2,941,333 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,008,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $737,728,000 after purchasing an additional 619,956 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $357,440,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.9% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,316,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $368,832,000 after purchasing an additional 156,020 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ FITB opened at $53.06 on Wednesday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $32.25 and a 52 week high of $55.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.99.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 19.50% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The company had revenue of $3.82 billion during the quarter. As a group, analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 45.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FITB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered Fifth Third Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Evercore boosted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $56.25 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.50, for a total value of $109,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 129,191 shares in the company, valued at $6,265,763.50. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp Profile

Fifth Third Bancorp is a Cincinnati, Ohio–based bank holding company whose primary banking subsidiary operates as Fifth Third Bank. The company provides a broad range of financial services to individual consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies and large corporations. Its business mix includes retail and commercial banking, lending, payment and card services, treasury and cash management, and wealth management and investment advisory services delivered through a combination of branch locations, commercial offices and digital platforms.

On the consumer side, Fifth Third offers deposit accounts, consumer loans, mortgages, auto financing and credit card products, along with digital banking and mobile services.