Townsquare Capital LLC Acquires New Stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 18,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $804,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FITB. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $33,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,774,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $889,978,000 after purchasing an additional 732,651 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 896.7% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 648,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,678,000 after purchasing an additional 583,781 shares in the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 38.7% in the second quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,433,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,323,000 after buying an additional 399,900 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.8% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,679,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,837,000 after buying an additional 399,827 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total value of $327,525.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,441,720.71. This trade represents a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of FITB opened at $47.05 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $31.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.22. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $30.01 and a 52 week high of $49.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $44.88 and a 200-day moving average of $41.19.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.05). Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 16.58%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.37 dividend. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 49.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on FITB shares. Baird R W lowered shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.19.

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.