Caxton Associates LP Invests $14.83 Million in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Caxton Associates LP acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 430,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $14,833,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 145.5% in the fourth quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 83.0% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,532 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 695 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on FITB. Wolfe Research raised shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, May 31st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.86.

Insider Transactions at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total value of $93,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 136,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,134,575. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total transaction of $93,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 136,922 shares in the company, valued at $5,134,575. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $540,497.66. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,696,981.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,357 shares of company stock worth $816,148 in the last quarter. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Down 0.8 %

FITB stock traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $35.34. 3,092,698 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,855,636. The company has a market cap of $24.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $36.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $22.49 and a 52 week high of $39.14.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.70% and a return on equity of 16.11%. The firm had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 44.44%.

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.