Morgan Stanley Increases Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Price Target to $51.00

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $47.00 to $51.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 18.99% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. StockNews.com lowered Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Argus upped their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One research 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.41.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

FITB stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $42.86. 716,751 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,634,765. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $41.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.39. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12 month low of $22.49 and a 12 month high of $43.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.22.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 17.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 the SEC website. In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the 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 owns 134,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,376,880. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total value of $835,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,224,883.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,269,920. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fifth Third Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC raised its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 125.0% in the first quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the second quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter worth $56,000. 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.