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

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $45.32.

Several brokerages have commented on FITB. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total value of $327,525.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,913 shares in the company, valued at $2,441,720.71. This trade represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 19,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 130.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 5.9% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 661,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,156,000 after acquiring an additional 36,838 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $227,000. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 10.0% during the second quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ FITB opened at $42.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $28.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $32.29 and a 52 week high of $49.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $45.66 and its 200 day moving average is $41.83.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 14.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.17%.

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.