Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 182,552 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 53.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 525,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 182,552 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned about 0.08% of Fifth Third Bancorp worth $18,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $185,924,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 58,769,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,565,617,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448,642 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,076,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $331,188,000 after purchasing an additional 3,176,903 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $73,081,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,944,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $391,885,000 after purchasing an additional 1,891,388 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $39.00 price target (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.63.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FITB opened at $34.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27. Fifth Third Bancorp has a one year low of $22.46 and a one year high of $37.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $35.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.49.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 18.58%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.19 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.34%.

Insider Transactions at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $181,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 139,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,072,172.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related 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 value of $971,490.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,407,751.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were 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 directly owns 139,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,072,172.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp 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.