Czech National Bank Acquires 7,501 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 145,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,501 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $6,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 232.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FITB. Baird R W cut shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley increased 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. StockNews.com downgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a 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 stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.92.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FITB opened at $42.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $45.17 and a 200 day moving average of $42.75. The company has a market capitalization of $28.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.25, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.24. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12 month low of $32.29 and a 12 month high of $49.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last announced 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). The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 14.58%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 49.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total value of $327,525.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,441,720.71. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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.