Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Raises Position in Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 39.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,830 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $2,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth approximately $207,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 115.3% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 19,890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 10,651 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 195.1% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 27,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 18,357 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 254.7% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 60,468 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,809,000 after purchasing an additional 43,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp increased its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 1,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

FITB stock opened at $58.02 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $52.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.90. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1 year low of $40.04 and a 1 year high of $58.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $52.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.48.

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

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on FITB shares. Wall Street Zen raised Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Evercore set a $60.00 target price on Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.11.

Fifth Third Bancorp 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.