BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Lowers Stock Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lessened its position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 31.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,111,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 517,969 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned approximately 0.16% of Fifth Third Bancorp worth $40,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $29,000. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,376,880. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Mitchell Stuart Feiger sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.21, for a total transaction of $494,520.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $863,802.81. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the completion of 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. Insiders have sold a total of 54,500 shares of company stock worth $2,269,920 over the last ninety days. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on FITB shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wolfe Research raised Fifth Third Bancorp from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.56.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 1.2 %

FITB opened at $42.69 on Friday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $22.49 and a 52 week high of $42.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $29.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.24.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.04). Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 17.41%. The company had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 44.44%.

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.