Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Upgraded to Hold by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America raised their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.28.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Down 2.9 %

Fifth Third Bancorp stock opened at $43.37 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $29.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.77, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.22. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $22.49 and a fifty-two week high of $45.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $42.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.02. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 17.41%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.31 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. This is a boost from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total transaction of $835,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,224,883.99. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Mitchell Stuart Feiger sold 12,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.21, for a total transaction of $494,520.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $863,802.81. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total transaction of $835,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,087 shares in the company, valued at $5,224,883.99. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 52,000 shares of company stock worth $2,169,920. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fifth Third Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FITB. Park National Corp OH grew its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 41,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after purchasing an additional 5,411 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,254,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter worth $639,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 9.1% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 313,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,657,000 after buying an additional 26,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.2% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 827,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,796,000 after buying an additional 18,208 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fifth Third Bancorp Company 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.