Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors acquired 10,026 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 294% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,544 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 21,700 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.55, for a total transaction of $945,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 130,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,698,778.80. The trade was a 14.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 17,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total value of $761,272.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 244,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,820,994.62. This represents a 6.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Eads & Heald Wealth Management grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 8,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 6,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 3,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FITB opened at $36.71 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $37.16 and a 200 day moving average of $41.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Fifth Third Bancorp has a twelve month low of $32.25 and a twelve month high of $49.07. The firm has a market cap of $24.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.89.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.10% and a net margin of 17.43%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 46.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on FITB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price target (down from $54.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised Fifth Third Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.24.

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.