American Century Companies Inc. Sells 2,927 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 0.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 703,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,927 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $25,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,343,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,012,472,000 after acquiring an additional 734,403 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 13.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 46,596,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,733,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,512,333 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $257,189,000. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.3% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,434,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $165,015,000 after buying an additional 99,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 341.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,928,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,521,000 after buying an additional 1,492,124 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 0.3 %

FITB stock opened at $42.62 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.97 and a 200-day moving average of $38.05. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $22.49 and a fifty-two week high of $43.37. The company has a market capitalization of $29.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

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

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. This is a positive change from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 46.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FITB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 134,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,376,880. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total value of $835,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,224,883.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,269,920 in the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp 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.