Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $50.35.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $49.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott raised their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

FITB stock opened at $42.87 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $28.34 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.83 and a 200-day moving average of $41.72. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12-month low of $32.25 and a 12-month high of $49.07.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.41% and a net margin of 18.67%.The business’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Evan Bayh purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $41.22 per share, with a total value of $123,660.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 84,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,501,309.24. This represents a 3.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1,043.3% in the second quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 91.3% during the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.