Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $35.63.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays increased their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FITB stock opened at $34.53 on Friday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12-month low of $22.46 and a 12-month high of $37.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 18.58%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.19 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 43.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $181,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 139,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,072,172.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total transaction of $971,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,407,751.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $181,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 139,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,072,172.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FITB. Fairfield Bush & CO. grew its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.4% in the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 36,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,570,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC grew its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 22.0% in the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 255,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,008,000 after purchasing an additional 46,064 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $754,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 13.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 54,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,365,000 after purchasing an additional 6,341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. grew its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 60.8% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 121,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,224,000 after purchasing an additional 45,910 shares during the last quarter. 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.