Macquarie Group Ltd. Acquires 34,832 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 42.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 117,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,832 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $3,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 15,491.4% in the 1st quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,875,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $236,433,000 after buying an additional 8,818,187 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 37,477,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,229,625,000 after buying an additional 7,062,005 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $185,924,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 58,769,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,565,617,000 after buying an additional 3,448,642 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 33,243,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,090,707,000 after buying an additional 3,172,058 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FITB shares. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $36.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 27th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $30.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $40.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.50.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of FITB stock opened at $27.13 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $27.21 and its 200-day moving average is $26.76. The stock has a market cap of $18.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.71, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.21. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52-week low of $22.11 and a 52-week high of $38.06.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 22.66% and a return on equity of 16.92%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, September 30th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This is a boost from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 28th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.50%.

Fifth Third Bancorp Company Profile

Fifth Third Bancorp operates as a diversified financial services company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, Consumer and Small Business Banking, and Wealth and Asset Management. The company's Commercial Banking segment offers credit intermediation, cash management, and financial services; lending and depository products; and cash management, foreign exchange and international trade finance, derivatives and capital markets services, asset-based lending, real estate finance, public finance, commercial leasing, and syndicated finance for business, government, and professional customers.