Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.62.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FITB. Baird R W lowered shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Citigroup raised their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,913 shares in the company, valued at $2,441,720.71. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FITB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,774,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $889,978,000 after acquiring an additional 732,651 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 281,494 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.8% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,679,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,837,000 after purchasing an additional 399,827 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position 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 last quarter. Finally, Smead Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,224,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,278,000 after buying an additional 75,024 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

FITB stock opened at $48.06 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.03. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12-month low of $28.29 and a 12-month high of $49.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 49.17%.

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.