Empowered Funds LLC Takes Position in Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 46,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,610,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 69.7% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 50,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,359,000 after purchasing an additional 20,862 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 33.2% during the 1st quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 85,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,985,000 after buying an additional 21,365 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,197,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $848,672,000 after buying an additional 96,656 shares in the last quarter. SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,514,000. Finally, Fruth Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 335.2% in the first quarter. Fruth Investment Management now owns 27,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,264,000 after buying an additional 20,957 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FITB opened at $54.44 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.37 billion, a PE ratio of 18.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $56.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12-month low of $40.04 and a 12-month high of $59.50.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on FITB. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Evercore set a $60.00 price target on Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, July 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.54.

Fifth Third Bancorp Profile

Fifth Third Bancorp is a Cincinnati, Ohio–based bank holding company whose primary banking subsidiary operates as Fifth Third Bank. The company provides a broad range of financial services to individual consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies and large corporations. Its business mix includes retail and commercial banking, lending, payment and card services, treasury and cash management, and wealth management and investment advisory services delivered through a combination of branch locations, commercial offices and digital platforms.

On the consumer side, Fifth Third offers deposit accounts, consumer loans, mortgages, auto financing and credit card products, along with digital banking and mobile services.