Axa S.A. Grows Stock Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Axa S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 171.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,756 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $1,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FITB. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $29,000. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 125.0% during 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. purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 130.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,376,880. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total value of $835,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,224,883.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,376,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,500 shares of company stock worth $2,269,920. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on FITB shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Argus raised their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.41.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB opened at $42.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $29.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.44. 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.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 17.41%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.37 dividend. This is a positive change from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.98%.

Fifth Third Bancorp Company 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.