Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Short Interest Update

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 20,410,000 shares, a drop of 7.9% from the August 15th total of 22,150,000 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 4,400,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.6 days.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 0.3 %

Fifth Third Bancorp stock opened at $42.62 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.22. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1-year low of $22.49 and a 1-year high of $43.37.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.41% and a return on equity of 15.79%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.37 dividend. This is a positive change from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 114,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,805,724. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Mitchell Stuart Feiger sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 20,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $863,802.81. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $840,000.00. Following the completion of 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,269,920. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.8% during 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 lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 13.4% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,757,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $356,031,000 after buying an additional 281,494 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $257,189,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.3% in the first 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 in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on FITB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. 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. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.16.

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.