Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Acquires New Position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,296,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $44,708,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 32.1% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,076,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $331,188,000 after buying an additional 3,176,903 shares in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $67,354,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,428,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $492,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500,653 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 66.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,307,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,437,000 after purchasing an additional 917,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $12,625,000. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $37.50 to $39.50 in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. 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. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.50.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ FITB traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $37.56. 4,006,897 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,321,443. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.56. The stock has a market cap of $25.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.92, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.24. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1-year low of $22.46 and a 1-year high of $37.77.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 17.70%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 44.44%.

Insider Transactions at Fifth Third Bancorp

In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total transaction of $93,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 136,922 shares in the company, valued at $5,134,575. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $8,407,751.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were 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 approximately $5,134,575. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,857 shares of company stock worth $1,787,638 in the last quarter. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.