REAP Financial Group LLC Increases Holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

REAP Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 73.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $93,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 292,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,450,000 after buying an additional 16,000 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 818,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,088,000 after buying an additional 12,905 shares in the last quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,011,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 49.5% in the 1st quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 47,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,858,000 after purchasing an additional 15,692 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1,448.6% in the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 98,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,845,000 after purchasing an additional 91,754 shares during the period. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FITB shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.16.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of FITB stock opened at $43.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $28.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.69. Fifth Third Bancorp has a one year low of $32.25 and a one year high of $49.07.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 49.69%.

Fifth Third Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, June 16th that allows the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.