Prosperity Consulting Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 39,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 623 shares during the quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $1,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 21,586,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $912,692,000 after buying an additional 812,385 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,959,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $715,219,000 after acquiring an additional 285,910 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 14,135,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $597,692,000 after purchasing an additional 823,803 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 9,531,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $402,991,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $371,836,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FITB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price target (down previously from $54.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Baird R W raised Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.24.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of FITB stock opened at $35.28 on Friday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $32.25 and a fifty-two week high of $49.07. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $38.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.17 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.43% and a return on equity of 14.10%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 21,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.55, for a total value of $945,035.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 130,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,698,778.80. This trade represents a 14.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 17,200 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total transaction of $761,272.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 244,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,820,994.62. This trade represents a 6.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.53% 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.