Xponance Inc. Boosts Stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Xponance Inc. grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 4.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,104 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $3,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,083,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,416,985,000 after purchasing an additional 10,472,392 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 341.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,928,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,521,000 after buying an additional 1,492,124 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,337,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,343,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,012,472,000 after acquiring an additional 734,403 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,641,000. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FITB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.16.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB opened at $42.10 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12-month low of $22.49 and a 12-month high of $43.85. The business has a 50 day moving average of $41.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.26. The company has a market capitalization of $28.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.37, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.22.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.41% and a return on equity of 15.79%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a positive change from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Insider Activity

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 114,422 shares in the company, valued at $4,805,724. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 114,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,805,724. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mitchell Stuart Feiger sold 12,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.21, for a total transaction of $494,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $863,802.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,500 shares of company stock worth $2,269,920 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.