Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. Lowers Stock Position in Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. lessened its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 53.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 105,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 122,400 shares during the quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $4,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FITB. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $334,805,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $113,900,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,908,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $898,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,321,554 shares during the period. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,989,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 5.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,736,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $695,265,000 after purchasing an additional 862,374 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Evan Bayh acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $41.22 per share, with a total value of $123,660.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 84,942 shares in the company, valued at $3,501,309.24. This trade represents a 3.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 0.4%

FITB stock opened at $41.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Fifth Third Bancorp has a twelve month low of $32.25 and a twelve month high of $49.07. The company’s 50 day moving average is $44.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.30. The stock has a market cap of $27.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.95.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.06. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 18.67% and a return on equity of 13.41%. The company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 47.76%.

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.