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

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) were up 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $38.65 and last traded at $38.61. Approximately 407,269 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 5,208,598 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on FITB shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. 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. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 price objective (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.50.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Up 0.4 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $36.05 and its 200 day moving average is $32.95. 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 $26.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company earned $0.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, 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 transaction of $971,490.00. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,857 shares of company stock valued at $1,787,638 over the last three months. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FITB. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 61,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,110,000 after buying an additional 3,476 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 57.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 737,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,551,000 after buying an additional 269,152 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 661,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,805,000 after buying an additional 69,273 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 350,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,102,000 after buying an additional 113,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,860,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $376,413,000 after buying an additional 393,937 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

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.