Kentucky Retirement Systems Buys 31,081 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

Kentucky Retirement Systems boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 74.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 72,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 31,081 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $3,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of FITB. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 35.9% during the 1st quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 23,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 6,289 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 97,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,515,000 after acquiring an additional 16,925 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $105,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 21.8% in the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 12,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 2,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 456.8% during the first quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 50,666 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after purchasing an additional 41,566 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB opened at $56.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $54.66 and its 200 day moving average is $51.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $40.04 and a fifty-two week 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). The company had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 15.89%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 45.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on FITB shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Evercore set a $60.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Zacks Research downgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Fifth Third Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. One research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.54.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

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.