Atria Investments Inc Lowers Stock Position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Atria Investments Inc lessened its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 14.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 47,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,217 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $2,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.7% during the third quarter. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 11,945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $512,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $223,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 821,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,194,000 after purchasing an additional 14,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Square Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $454,000. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $840,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 114,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,805,724. This trade represents a 14.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total value of $327,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,913 shares in the company, valued at $2,441,720.71. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on FITB shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Argus increased their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com cut Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.28.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FITB stock opened at $47.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.38 and a 200 day moving average of $40.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.21. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $26.63 and a 52 week high of $48.10.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.05). Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 14.58%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. This is a positive change from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.17%.

Fifth Third Bancorp Company 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.