KBC Group NV Reduces Stake in Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

KBC Group NV lowered its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 24.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 39,307 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $5,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 4,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $199,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 4,950 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 64,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,015,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, EVP Peter L. Sefzik sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $1,009,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 189,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,556,215.72. This represents a 9.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on FITB. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Zacks Research lowered Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stephens began coverage on Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, June 15th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $58.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.20.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB opened at $57.14 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $53.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.90. Fifth Third Bancorp has a one year low of $40.04 and a one year high of $59.50.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.01). Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 15.89%.The company had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 45.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.61%.

Fifth Third Bancorp Company Profile

Fifth Third Bancorp is a Cincinnati, Ohio–based bank holding company whose primary banking subsidiary operates as Fifth Third Bank. The company provides a broad range of financial services to individual consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies and large corporations. Its business mix includes retail and commercial banking, lending, payment and card services, treasury and cash management, and wealth management and investment advisory services delivered through a combination of branch locations, commercial offices and digital platforms.

On the consumer side, Fifth Third offers deposit accounts, consumer loans, mortgages, auto financing and credit card products, along with digital banking and mobile services.