HFG Advisors Inc. Sells 3,450 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

HFG Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 15,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,450 shares during the period. HFG Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $577,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 61,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 3,476 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,257,000. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 88,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,056,000 after purchasing an additional 21,251 shares during the period. rhino investment partners Inc raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. rhino investment partners Inc now owns 1,301,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,891,000 after purchasing an additional 217,956 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 291,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,043,000 after purchasing an additional 21,612 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FITB. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $37.50 to $39.50 in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.56.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

FITB stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $39.65. The company had a trading volume of 2,902,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,868,144. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1 year low of $22.49 and a 1 year high of $42.91. The company has a market capitalization of $27.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $38.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.59.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its 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 net margin of 17.41% and a return on equity of 15.79%. The business had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In related news, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total transaction of $835,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,224,883.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total transaction of $835,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,224,883.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,376,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,429,920. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.