Premier Fund Managers Ltd Increases Position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 163,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $6,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 304,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,889,000 after buying an additional 7,970 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,759,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $371,836,000. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 61,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,594,000 after purchasing an additional 14,031 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In related news, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 21,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.55, for a total value of $945,035.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 130,856 shares in the company, valued at $5,698,778.80. This trade represents a 14.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 17,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total transaction of $761,272.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 244,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,820,994.62. This trade represents a 6.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on FITB shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.86.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ FITB opened at $39.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.21. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52-week low of $33.82 and a 52-week high of $49.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $42.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.13%.

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.