Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.56.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on FITB shares. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. 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 research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock opened at $42.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.90. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $22.49 and a fifty-two week high of $42.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $28.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.22.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by ($0.04). The firm 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. This is a boost from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 134,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,376,880. 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 Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.21, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,376,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,500 shares of company stock worth $2,269,920. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fifth Third Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FITB. Bailard Inc. grew its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 51,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,885,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.8% in the first quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 7,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.6% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 12,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $453,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.6% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 53,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,962,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.