Park Avenue Securities LLC Acquires 976 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $2,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FITB. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 145.5% in the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 83.0% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 695 shares during the period. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total value of $540,497.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,696,981.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total value of $540,497.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,696,981.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total value of $93,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 136,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,134,575. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 22,357 shares of company stock worth $816,148. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Fifth Third Bancorp stock opened at $36.06 on Friday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $22.49 and a 52 week high of $39.14. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $24.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.24.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 17.70%. The business had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FITB has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $39.00 price target (down from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.21.

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.