Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Raises Dividend to $0.37 Per Share

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 12th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.37 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35.

Fifth Third Bancorp has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.0% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Fifth Third Bancorp has a payout ratio of 39.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Fifth Third Bancorp to earn $3.57 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.2%.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of FITB stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $41.17. The stock had a trading volume of 3,986,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,681,401. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.22. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52-week low of $22.49 and a 52-week high of $42.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.04). Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.41% and a return on equity of 15.79%. The business had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,376,880. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total transaction of $835,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,224,883.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 134,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,376,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,500 shares of company stock worth $2,269,920. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on FITB shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Argus raised their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated 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. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.56.

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.