Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $37.00 to $40.00. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp traded as high as $37.41 and last traded at $37.30, with a volume of 2424773 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.74.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on FITB. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.72.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

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

Institutional Trading of Fifth Third Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FITB. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 34.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 10,472,392 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $257,189,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.2% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 58,769,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,565,617,000 after buying an additional 3,448,642 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 32.1% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,076,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $331,188,000 after acquiring an additional 3,176,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the first quarter worth $73,081,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The business has a 50-day moving average of $34.69 and a 200 day moving average of $30.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.26.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $3.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 18.58% and a return on equity of 16.25%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.04 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.34%.

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.