Atom Investors LP Buys 27,397 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Atom Investors LP grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 108.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 52,643 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,397 shares during the quarter. Atom Investors LP’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $2,255,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 155.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 170,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,326,000 after buying an additional 103,392 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 85.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 50,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 23,146 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.8% in the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 111,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,079,000 after purchasing an additional 9,052 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 177.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 4,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 2,879 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 25,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $940,000 after buying an additional 687 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Down 1.0 %

FITB opened at $47.57 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.13. The stock has a market cap of $31.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.21. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $30.01 and a 52 week high of $49.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.05). Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 16.58%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total value of $327,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,441,720.71. This trade represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FITB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Baird R W cut Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.62.

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.