California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Stock Position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,255,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 50,558 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.18% of Fifth Third Bancorp worth $43,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of FITB stock opened at $36.90 on Friday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52-week low of $22.46 and a 52-week high of $37.41. 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 capitalization of $25.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.22.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 17.70%. The business had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.2 EPS 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 given 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 3.79%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 44.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,344 shares in the company, valued at $8,407,751.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now 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 this hyperlink. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total transaction of $971,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,407,751.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,357 shares of company stock worth $1,693,888 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FITB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 price target (down from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Thursday, April 4th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 price target (up from $39.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.31.

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.