Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Sells 2,447 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. cut its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 21.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,447 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 14,135,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $597,692,000 after buying an additional 823,803 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,046,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,535,000 after buying an additional 438,446 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 818,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,088,000 after buying an additional 12,905 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,011,000. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 49.5% in the 1st quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 47,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,858,000 after buying an additional 15,692 shares during the period. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ FITB opened at $42.77 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.58, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.91. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $32.25 and a fifty-two week high of $49.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 17.65%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, June 16th that permits the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FITB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Fifth Third Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.53.

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.