Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on FITB. Barclays lifted their price objective 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, October 21st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Baird R W lowered Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.28.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 0.8 %

Fifth Third Bancorp stock opened at $43.16 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day moving average of $42.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.84. Fifth Third Bancorp has a twelve month low of $24.64 and a twelve month high of $45.71.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total value of $327,525.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,441,720.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total value of $327,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 55,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,441,720.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $840,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 114,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,805,724. This represents 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 insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $622,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $88,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 424.3% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 19,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 15,662 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $318,000. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 24,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $922,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

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.