Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Receives $40.56 Average PT from Analysts

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.16.

Several research firms have issued reports on FITB. 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. Wolfe Research upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $43.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised Fifth Third Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Argus upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, 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 research report on Monday, July 22nd.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Fifth Third Bancorp stock opened at $42.51 on Wednesday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $22.49 and a 52 week high of $43.01. The firm has a market cap of $29.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The business’s fifty day moving average is $40.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.02.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 17.41%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 46.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 114,422 shares in the company, valued at $4,805,724. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Mitchell Stuart Feiger sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.21, for a total value of $494,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $863,802.81. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $840,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 114,422 shares in the company, valued at $4,805,724. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,269,920. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fifth Third Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,343,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,012,472,000 after purchasing an additional 734,403 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 13.4% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 46,596,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,733,847,000 after buying an additional 5,512,333 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,757,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $356,031,000 after acquiring an additional 281,494 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $257,189,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,434,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $165,015,000 after acquiring an additional 99,593 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

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.