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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning.

Several other research analysts have also commented on FITB. Argus lifted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.28.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

FITB opened at $43.87 on Monday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a twelve month low of $22.49 and a twelve month high of $45.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $42.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.27.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.05). Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 17.41%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 46.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $840,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 114,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,805,724. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fifth Third Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.5% in the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 135,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,048,000 after buying an additional 3,271 shares in the last quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $213,000. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC boosted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 22,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $824,000 after acquiring an additional 1,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signet Financial Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 74,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,756,000 after acquiring an additional 2,025 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.