Sit Investment Associates Inc. Grows Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

Sit Investment Associates Inc. raised its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 162,585 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,066 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $7,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $649,264,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 41.6% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 10,444,799 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,644,332 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 2,574,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake 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 valued at $714,457,000 after purchasing an additional 2,293,939 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Peter L. Sefzik sold 20,000 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,556,215.72. This trade represents a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kevin J. Khanna sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.77, for a total transaction of $304,620.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 76,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,873,700.23. This trade represents a 7.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens began coverage on Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Evercore boosted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday, May 4th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.34.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ FITB opened at $52.82 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.19. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12 month low of $38.91 and a 12 month high of $55.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.87 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 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.