Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Trading Down 0.3%

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)’s share price dropped 0.3% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $38.29 and last traded at $38.45. Approximately 348,954 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 5,061,652 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FITB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 1st. 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 research report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $39.00 price target (down from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.50.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $25.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.99.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.70% and a return on equity of 16.11%. The firm had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total transaction of $93,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 136,922 shares in the company, valued at $5,134,575. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total value of $93,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 136,922 shares in the company, valued at $5,134,575. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $540,497.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,646 shares in the company, valued at $1,696,981.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,857 shares of company stock worth $1,787,638 over the last quarter. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 61,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,110,000 after acquiring an additional 3,476 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 737,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,551,000 after acquiring an additional 269,152 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 661,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,805,000 after acquiring an additional 69,273 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 350,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,102,000 after acquiring an additional 113,838 shares during the period. Finally, Outfitter Financial LLC bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $946,000. 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.