Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB Holdings Lowered by Atwood & Palmer Inc.

Atwood & Palmer Inc. decreased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 826,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,788 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp accounts for about 2.2% of Atwood & Palmer Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Atwood & Palmer Inc.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $41,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,653,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,333,362,000 after purchasing an additional 3,972,795 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,324,903,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 23,799,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,114,046,000 after buying an additional 2,574,712 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $995,717,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 30.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,918,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $507,151,000 after buying an additional 2,569,479 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FITB shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $65.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.92.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Up 1.2%

FITB stock traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $50.71. 10,522,415 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,354,033. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average of $54.42 and a 200-day moving average of $52.69. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52-week low of $40.04 and a 52-week high of $59.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 15.89%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 45.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.34%.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the parent company of Fifth Third Bank. The company traces its history to 1858 and provides banking and related financial services to individuals, businesses, government entities and institutional clients.

Through its commercial banking operations, Fifth Third offers lending, deposit, treasury management, payment processing and capital markets services to middle-market companies, large corporations and other organizations.