Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB Stock Purchased by North Dakota State Investment Board

North Dakota State Investment Board increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 50.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 40,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,505 shares during the period. North Dakota State Investment Board’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $2,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 3,972,795 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,324,903,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $995,717,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 30.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,918,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $507,151,000 after acquiring an additional 2,569,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 16.6% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,384,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $416,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,520 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.14, for a total value of $1,062,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 121,460 shares in the company, valued at $6,454,384.40. This trade represents a 14.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FITB shares. Argus upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Evercore raised shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.77.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of FITB stock opened at $54.48 on Friday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1 year low of $40.68 and a 1 year high of $59.50. 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 50 day simple moving average is $52.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.00. The company has a market cap of $49.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.97.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.34 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 15.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 42.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. Research analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.10 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. This is a boost from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 57.53%.

Fifth Third Bancorp Profile

Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its principal subsidiary, Fifth Third Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, government entities and institutional clients.

The company’s offerings include checking and savings accounts, consumer and commercial lending, mortgages, credit and debit cards, treasury management, cash management and payment-processing services. Through its wealth and asset management businesses, Fifth Third also provides investment management, brokerage, trust, private banking and financial planning services.

Fifth Third primarily serves customers across the Midwest and Southeast, with a branch and banking-center network spanning states including Ohio, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.