The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 107,241 Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its position in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,778,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 107,241 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.27% of Fifth Third Bancorp worth $76,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 89.5% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 56.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock opened at $48.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.21. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52-week low of $26.89 and a 52-week high of $49.07. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.92.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 16.58%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. This is a positive change from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 49.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FITB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Baird R W lowered shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total transaction of $327,525.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,913 shares in the company, valued at $2,441,720.71. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fifth Third Bancorp 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.