GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases New Stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 5,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $199,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 2,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Vicus Capital grew 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 purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew 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 purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Resource Group grew 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 purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FITB opened at $36.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $25.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.13. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $22.46 and a 52 week high of $37.41.

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 firm had revenue of $3.32 billion for 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,696,981.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,696,981.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total value of $181,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 139,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,072,172.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,357 shares of company stock valued at $1,693,888 in the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FITB. Stephens reaffirmed 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday. Barclays raised their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.31.

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.