Aquila Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Aquila Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 10,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.5% in the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 135,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,048,000 after purchasing an additional 3,271 shares during the period. Mcdonald Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $213,000. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.9% in the first quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 22,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 1,814 shares during the period. Signet Financial Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.8% in the first quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 74,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after acquiring an additional 2,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.4% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 142,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,315,000 after acquiring an additional 1,940 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FITB has been the topic of several research reports. Baird R W downgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $840,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 114,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,805,724. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ FITB opened at $43.66 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $42.32 and its 200 day moving average is $39.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12 month low of $22.49 and a 12 month high of $45.71. The stock has a market cap of $29.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.22.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 17.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 46.98%.

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.