Empowered Funds LLC Has $5.39 Million Position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 1,079.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 125,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 115,136 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $5,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors raised its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 13.4% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 46,596,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,733,847,000 after acquiring an additional 5,512,333 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,337,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 896.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 648,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,678,000 after purchasing an additional 583,781 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 38.7% during the second quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,433,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,323,000 after purchasing an additional 399,900 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.8% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,679,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $371,837,000 after buying an additional 399,827 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on FITB. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.09.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FITB opened at $46.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $26.89 and a fifty-two week high of $48.10. The company has a market cap of $31.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.41.

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

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 49.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.