Park National Corp OH Reduces Stock Position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Park National Corp OH reduced its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,929 shares during the quarter. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $1,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 15.1% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 71,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,078,000 after acquiring an additional 9,444 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 460,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,776,000 after purchasing an additional 55,081 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $541,000. First National Trust Co increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 44.9% during the third quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 77,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,303,000 after buying an additional 23,890 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,757,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $356,031,000 after buying an additional 281,494 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FITB opened at $42.42 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.44 billion, a PE ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.22. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52-week low of $32.29 and a 52-week high of $49.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

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). The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 14.58%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 49.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FITB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of 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. Baird R W lowered shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock 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 issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fifth Third Bancorp

In related news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 55,913 shares in the company, valued at $2,441,720.71. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.