Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Buys Shares of 22,901 Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC acquired a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 22,901 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $981,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $622,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth $84,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 10.7% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 67,736 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 6,568 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $88,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 424.3% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 19,353 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 15,662 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus increased their price target 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. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Baird R W downgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $42.28.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Fifth Third Bancorp stock traded up $3.71 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $46.87. 11,664,393 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,643,521. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $24.64 and a fifty-two week high of $46.90. The stock has a market cap of $31.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 16.58%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a boost from Fifth Third Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.17%.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total value of $327,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,913 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,441,720.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total value of $327,525.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,441,720.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were 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 $4,805,724. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

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.