Sterling Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

Sterling Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 49.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 47,400 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $2,275,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Cambient Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Cambient Family Office LLC now owns 7,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Fruth Investment Management raised its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 335.2% during the first quarter. Fruth Investment Management now owns 27,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,264,000 after purchasing an additional 20,957 shares during the last quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 36.6% during the first quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 81,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,805,000 after purchasing an additional 21,932 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 7.6% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 122,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,709,000 after buying an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on FITB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore lifted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $53.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $67.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $54.00 price objective (down from $57.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.74.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB opened at $56.47 on Monday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12-month low of $40.04 and a 12-month high of $56.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $50.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.62. The firm has a market cap of $51.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.95, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 12.39%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Peter L. Sefzik sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $1,009,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 189,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,556,215.72. The trade was a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kevin J. Khanna sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.77, for a total value of $304,620.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 76,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,873,700.23. This represents a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp Company Profile

Fifth Third Bancorp is a Cincinnati, Ohio–based bank holding company whose primary banking subsidiary operates as Fifth Third Bank. The company provides a broad range of financial services to individual consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies and large corporations. Its business mix includes retail and commercial banking, lending, payment and card services, treasury and cash management, and wealth management and investment advisory services delivered through a combination of branch locations, commercial offices and digital platforms.

On the consumer side, Fifth Third offers deposit accounts, consumer loans, mortgages, auto financing and credit card products, along with digital banking and mobile services.