Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Stock Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $42.31 and traded as high as $42.78. Fifth Third Bancorp shares last traded at $42.28, with a volume of 3,028,372 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on FITB shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.32.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.31. The company has a market capitalization of $28.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous 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 expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 49.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,441,720.71. This trade represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $889,978,000 after buying an additional 732,651 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of 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 period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $371,837,000 after acquiring an additional 399,827 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,476,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $242,713,000 after purchasing an additional 409,292 shares during the period. Finally, Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.5% in the third 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. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.