27,425 Shares in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Purchased by Outfitter Financial LLC

Outfitter Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 27,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $946,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FITB. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 145.5% in the 4th quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 83.0% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB traded up $0.18 on Friday, reaching $38.83. 806,423 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,184,119. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1-year low of $22.49 and a 1-year high of $39.04. The firm has a market cap of $26.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $36.15 and a 200-day moving average of $32.99.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.70% and a return on equity of 16.11%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FITB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of 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 reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $39.00 target price (down from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.50.

Insider Activity

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were 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 owns 229,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,407,751.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total value of $540,497.66. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,696,981.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total transaction of $971,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 229,344 shares in the company, valued at $8,407,751.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,857 shares of company stock worth $1,787,638 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

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.