World Investment Advisors Lowers Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

World Investment Advisors lowered its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 29.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,428 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the second quarter worth $667,000. Austin Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 11.3% in the second quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 99,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,102,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 125,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,147,000 after purchasing an additional 14,300 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,314,000. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Evan Bayh acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $41.22 per share, with a total value of $123,660.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 84,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,501,309.24. The trade was a 3.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on FITB shares. Wolfe Research boosted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $49.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.35.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB opened at $41.53 on Tuesday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12 month low of $32.25 and a 12 month high of $49.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $44.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.49.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.06. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.41% and a net margin of 18.67%.The company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. This is a positive change from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.76%.

Fifth Third Bancorp Profile

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.