Kevin P. Lavender Sells 20,000 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Stock

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total transaction of $835,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,087 shares in the company, valued at $5,224,883.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 2.1 %

Fifth Third Bancorp stock traded up $0.87 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $41.85. 3,322,245 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,886,197. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52-week low of $22.49 and a 52-week high of $42.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $37.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.04). Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 17.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 44.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,083,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,416,985,000 after purchasing an additional 10,472,392 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $257,189,000. Smead Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $67,354,000. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 14,575,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $502,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499,194 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 341.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,928,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,521,000 after purchasing an additional 1,492,124 shares during the period. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 target price (down from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $37.50 to $39.50 in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.15.

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.