Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.37 Per Share

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 12th, RTT News reports. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35.

Fifth Third Bancorp has increased its dividend by an average of 8.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Fifth Third Bancorp has a payout ratio of 41.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 $1.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.5%.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB opened at $42.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $29.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.22. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12-month low of $22.49 and a 12-month high of $43.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 17.41%. The company 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 business earned $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fifth Third Bancorp

In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 134,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,376,880. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total transaction of $835,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,224,883.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp 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 sale, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,500 shares of company stock worth $2,269,920. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FITB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of 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. 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 report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.16.

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.