Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $4.88 Million Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. cut its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 141,368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 878 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $4,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FITB. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 price target (down from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.31.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock opened at $36.90 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.27. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $22.46 and a 52 week high of $37.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.70% and a return on equity of 16.11%. The company had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In related news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total value of $971,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 229,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,407,751.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total transaction of $971,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,407,751.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,696,981.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,357 shares of company stock worth $1,693,888 in the last quarter. Corporate 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.