Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Shares Acquired by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 139.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,515 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 89.5% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 56.9% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $39,000. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total transaction of $327,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,913 shares in the company, valued at $2,441,720.71. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FITB opened at $47.21 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $30.20 and a fifty-two week high of $49.07.

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

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 49.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Baird R W downgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com cut Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.81.

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.