Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Stock Rating Lowered by Baird R W

Baird R W lowered shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday morning, Zacks.com reports.

FITB has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Argus raised their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.28.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FITB opened at $44.06 on Monday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a one year low of $22.49 and a one year high of $45.71. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.27. The stock has a market cap of $30.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.99, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 17.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.37 dividend. This is a positive change from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $840,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 114,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,805,724. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FITB. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,512,333 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the second quarter worth $33,337,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 896.7% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 648,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,678,000 after acquiring an additional 583,781 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 37.2% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,629,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,632,000 after acquiring an additional 442,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 38.7% in the second quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,433,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,323,000 after acquiring an additional 399,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

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.