The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 107,241 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 5.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,778,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 107,241 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $76,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 11.6% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 13,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,367 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 11.5% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 83,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 8,613 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,000 after buying an additional 1,179 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 280,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,022,000 after buying an additional 5,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $1,100,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Baird R W cut shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.62.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of FITB stock opened at $48.16 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $26.89 and a fifty-two week high of $49.07. The firm has a market cap of $32.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $44.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.92.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.05). Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 14.58%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total value of $327,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,441,720.71. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Company 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.