Insider Selling: Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) EVP Sells 14,857 Shares of Stock

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $540,497.66. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,696,981.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $36.55. 5,506,880 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,509,221. The stock has a market cap of $24.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $35.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.89. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12 month low of $22.46 and a 12 month high of $37.41.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.32 billion for 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.19 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. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 27,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $698,000 after buying an additional 2,195 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 322.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,320 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 26,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $674,000 after buying an additional 1,560 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 46.3% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 996 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 40,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,020,000 after buying an additional 1,442 shares during the period. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FITB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Stephens reiterated 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.31.

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.