Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 price target (down from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.15.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB traded up $0.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $38.48. 3,626,253 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,851,100. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s fifty day moving average is $36.89 and its 200-day moving average is $35.71. Fifth Third Bancorp has a one year low of $22.49 and a one year high of $39.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 17.70%. The company had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total value of $93,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 136,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,134,575. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total value of $93,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 136,922 shares in the company, valued at $5,134,575. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $540,497.66. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,696,981.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 61,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after buying an additional 3,476 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 737,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,551,000 after purchasing an additional 269,152 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $2,257,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 88,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,056,000 after purchasing an additional 21,251 shares during the period. Finally, rhino investment partners Inc lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. rhino investment partners Inc now owns 1,301,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,891,000 after purchasing an additional 217,956 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

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.