Bleakley Financial Group LLC Grows Position in Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 254.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,468 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,419 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $2,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,948,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,929,647,000 after purchasing an additional 637,207 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 10,444,799 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 32,549,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,523,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,719,361 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,437,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,484,021,000 after buying an additional 101,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,939,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,120,586,000 after buying an additional 530,489 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:FITB opened at $58.02 on Thursday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12-month low of $40.04 and a 12-month high of $58.51. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.48. The firm has a market cap of $52.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.90.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore set a $60.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $54.50 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Peter L. Sefzik sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $1,009,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 189,382 shares in the company, valued at $9,556,215.72. This represents a 9.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kevin J. Khanna sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.77, for a total transaction of $304,620.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 76,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,873,700.23. This represents a 7.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp Profile

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.