WealthTrust Axiom LLC Has $3.61 Million Stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

WealthTrust Axiom LLC lowered its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,100 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp accounts for approximately 1.2% of WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. WealthTrust Axiom LLC’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $3,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FITB. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 145.5% in the 4th quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1,000.0% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,407,751.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 transaction of $540,497.66. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,646 shares in the company, valued at $1,696,981.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total value of $971,490.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 229,344 shares in the company, valued at $8,407,751.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,357 shares of company stock valued at $1,693,888 over the last three months. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FITB. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of 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 restated a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 price target (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.31.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $36.58. The company had a trading volume of 1,498,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,329,696. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $35.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $24.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 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.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.70% and a return on equity of 16.11%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

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.