Westpac Banking Corp Acquires New Position in Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

Westpac Banking Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 60,823 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,429,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,324,903,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $649,264,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 35,548,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,664,013,000 after buying an additional 10,444,799 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 719.2% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,012,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,993,000 after buying an additional 2,644,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $145,232,000. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ FITB opened at $54.76 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.97. The firm has a market cap of $49.66 billion, a PE ratio of 18.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.91. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1 year low of $40.04 and a 1 year high of $59.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 45.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FITB shares. Evercore set a $60.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday, July 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research cut shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.54.

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.