Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Position Increased by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 83,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,613 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $3,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 89.5% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 56.9% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Baird R W lowered Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.62.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of FITB stock opened at $48.16 on Thursday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12 month low of $26.89 and a 12 month high of $49.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $32.29 billion, a PE ratio of 16.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $44.52 and a 200-day moving average of $40.92.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.05). Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 14.58%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total transaction of $327,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,441,720.71. This trade represents a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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.