Carret Asset Management LLC Cuts Stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Carret Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,483 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $1,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 2,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.5% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Vicus Capital raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 9,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 24.3% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 2,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Resource Group raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 116,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,033,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the period. 83.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total value of $540,497.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,696,981.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total value of $540,497.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,696,981.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total value of $971,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,407,751.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 46,357 shares of company stock valued at $1,693,888. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FITB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 target price (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.31.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Up 0.5 %

FITB traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $37.23. 3,633,205 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,470,098. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.07. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52-week low of $22.46 and a 52-week high of $37.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.36 billion, a PE ratio of 11.77, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.27.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 17.70%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

Fifth Third Bancorp 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.