Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.78.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock opened at $42.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1 year low of $22.49 and a 1 year high of $43.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.60. The firm has a market cap of $28.80 billion, a PE ratio of 13.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.22.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted 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 net margin of 17.41% and a return on equity of 15.79%. The firm had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 dividend yield of 3.52%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 46.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,376,880. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Mitchell Stuart Feiger sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.21, for a total value of $494,520.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $863,802.81. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,376,880. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,269,920 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,343,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,012,472,000 after acquiring an additional 734,403 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 13.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 46,596,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,733,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,512,333 shares during the period. 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 period. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,434,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $165,015,000 after purchasing an additional 99,593 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,701,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,096,000 after buying an additional 56,298 shares during the period. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.