Fifth Third Bancorp’s (FITB) “Equal Weight” Rating Reiterated at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $36.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

FITB has been the subject of several other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a market perform rating and issued a $40.00 price target (up from $39.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird reissued a neutral rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a neutral rating and issued a $39.00 target price (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $36.31.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:FITB opened at $36.82 on Monday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1-year low of $22.46 and a 1-year high of $37.41. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $35.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.27.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 17.70%. The company had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Insider Transactions at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 139,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,072,172.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total value 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 approximately $5,072,172.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total value of $971,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 229,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,407,751.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 46,357 shares of company stock worth $1,693,888. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fifth Third Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 34.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,083,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,416,985,000 after purchasing an additional 10,472,392 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $257,189,000. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,076,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $331,188,000 after acquiring an additional 3,176,903 shares during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $67,354,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,428,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $492,117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500,653 shares during the period. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.