HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Buys 2,533 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 86,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,533 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $3,827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FITB. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,763,716 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $243,690,000 after purchasing an additional 287,342 shares during the period. Family Legacy Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Family Legacy Inc. now owns 14,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $630,000 after buying an additional 1,396 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 153,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,498,000 after buying an additional 30,914 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,485,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $189,650,000 after buying an additional 542,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 122,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,170,000 after acquiring an additional 9,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FITB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.64.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock opened at $38.81 on Monday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12-month low of $33.82 and a 12-month high of $49.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.13%.

Insider Transactions at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 21,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.55, for a total transaction of $945,035.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 130,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,698,778.80. This represents a 14.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 17,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total transaction of $761,272.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 244,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,820,994.62. The trade was a 6.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.