Blair William & Co. IL Increases Stock Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 10.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,925 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $3,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FITB. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 292,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,450,000 after purchasing an additional 16,000 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 818,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,088,000 after purchasing an additional 12,905 shares in the last quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,011,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 49.5% in the 1st quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 47,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,858,000 after purchasing an additional 15,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1,448.6% in the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 98,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,845,000 after purchasing an additional 91,754 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ FITB opened at $42.20 on Tuesday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1 year low of $32.25 and a 1 year high of $49.07. The firm has a market cap of $27.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.75.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.69%.

Fifth Third Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, June 16th that permits the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FITB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.20.

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.