Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Grows Stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 142,676 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,308 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $5,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 8,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Lcnb Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Lcnb Corp now owns 19,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 41,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,558,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 2,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 73,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,750,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of FITB traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $41.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,399,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,882,222. The business has a fifty day moving average of $37.15 and a 200 day moving average of $35.99. The company has a market cap of $28.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.24. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1 year low of $22.49 and a 1 year high of $41.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly 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). 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 44.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FITB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Fifth Third Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $37.50 to $39.50 in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com cut Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.