Avalon Advisory Group Sells 23,529 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Avalon Advisory Group trimmed its position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 43.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 31,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,529 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp comprises approximately 0.6% of Avalon Advisory Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Avalon Advisory Group’s holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $1,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,774,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $889,978,000 after buying an additional 732,651 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,757,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $356,031,000 after acquiring an additional 281,494 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,679,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,837,000 after purchasing an additional 399,827 shares in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,224,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,278,000 after purchasing an additional 75,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,731,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,184,000 after purchasing an additional 19,572 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on FITB. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Baird R W cut Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup upped their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.62.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FITB opened at $48.06 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $44.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.07. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $28.29 and a 52 week high of $49.07.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly 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). Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 14.58%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.17%.

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.