Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Position Increased by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $918,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 89.5% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 56.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,441,720.71. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FITB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays raised their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.62.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB opened at $48.06 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $44.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.07. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $28.29 and a fifty-two week high of $49.07.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 16.58%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.17%.

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.