Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Trading Up 1.8%

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) shares were up 1.8% on Friday . The company traded as high as $37.77 and last traded at $37.57. Approximately 1,206,492 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 5,286,853 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $37.50 to $39.50 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 price target (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.50.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $25.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $35.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.56.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.70% and a return on equity of 16.11%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 44.44%.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, 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 directly owns 229,344 shares in the company, valued at $8,407,751.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total value of $540,497.66. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,696,981.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 48,857 shares of company stock valued at $1,787,638. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fifth Third Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,343,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,012,472,000 after buying an additional 734,403 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,083,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,416,985,000 after purchasing an additional 10,472,392 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,428,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $492,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500,653 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,860,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,413,000 after purchasing an additional 393,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 14,575,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $502,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499,194 shares during the period. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.