Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Purchases 150,157 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 156.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 246,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 150,157 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $11,429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of FITB. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $649,264,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 41.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 35,548,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,664,013,000 after buying an additional 10,444,799 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 719.2% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,012,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,993,000 after buying an additional 2,644,332 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 23,799,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,114,046,000 after buying an additional 2,574,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,037,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $714,457,000 after buying an additional 2,293,939 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on FITB shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Fifth Third Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $53.00 to $54.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Peter L. Sefzik sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $1,009,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 189,382 shares in the company, valued at $9,556,215.72. The trade was a 9.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kevin J. Khanna sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.77, for a total value of $304,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 76,299 shares in the company, valued at $3,873,700.23. This trade represents a 7.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

FITB stock opened at $57.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $51.80 billion, a PE ratio of 19.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.90. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12 month low of $40.04 and a 12 month high of $58.15. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $51.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 12.39%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.69%.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp is a Cincinnati, Ohio–based bank holding company whose primary banking subsidiary operates as Fifth Third Bank. The company provides a broad range of financial services to individual consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies and large corporations. Its business mix includes retail and commercial banking, lending, payment and card services, treasury and cash management, and wealth management and investment advisory services delivered through a combination of branch locations, commercial offices and digital platforms.

On the consumer side, Fifth Third offers deposit accounts, consumer loans, mortgages, auto financing and credit card products, along with digital banking and mobile services.