Sapient Capital LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Sapient Capital LLC decreased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 34.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,825 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $1,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,343,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,012,472,000 after purchasing an additional 734,403 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,083,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,416,985,000 after acquiring an additional 10,472,392 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,428,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $492,117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500,653 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,860,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,413,000 after acquiring an additional 393,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 14,575,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $502,719,000 after acquiring an additional 1,499,194 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FITB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.31.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of FITB traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $36.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,314,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,352,631. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $35.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.50. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $22.46 and a 52 week high of $37.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $24.83 billion, a PE ratio of 11.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued 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 yield of 3.84%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $540,497.66. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $540,497.66. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the company’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 directly owns 229,344 shares in the company, valued at $8,407,751.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,357 shares of company stock worth $1,693,888 in the last three months. 0.50% of the stock is owned by 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.