Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 1,011,203 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp $FITB

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,942,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,011,203 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $418,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 916 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 40.5% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 56,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,218,000 after acquiring an additional 16,323 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 45.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 5.0% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the period. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $968,000. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB opened at $51.96 on Tuesday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a one year low of $37.86 and a one year high of $55.44. 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 company has a market cap of $47.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.60.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.20. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The company had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. Research analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 53.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FITB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research reduced their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Truist Financial set a $57.00 target price on Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $67.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kevin J. Khanna sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.77, for a total value of $304,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 76,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,873,700.23. This represents a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Peter L. Sefzik sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 189,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,556,215.72. This represents a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp 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.