Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 11,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $409,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 3,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.7% in the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 18,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 2,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 25,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $823,000 after buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toroso Investments LLC increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 7,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total transaction of $971,490.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,407,751.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total transaction of $971,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,407,751.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $181,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 139,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,072,172.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Up 5.9 %

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock traded up $2.03 on Friday, reaching $36.25. The company had a trading volume of 13,812,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,201,311. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $35.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.78. The firm has a market cap of $24.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.27. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52-week low of $22.46 and a 52-week high of $37.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 18.58% and a return on equity of 16.25%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 43.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on FITB shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.63.

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.