Zacks Research Downgrades Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) to Hold

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also commented on FITB. Weiss Ratings lowered Fifth Third Bancorp from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore raised their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $58.00 in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.19.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Fifth Third Bancorp stock opened at $48.63 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $47.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.64. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $36.64 and a 52 week high of $55.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.87. The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 15.89%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, EVP Kevin J. Khanna sold 6,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.77, for a total transaction of $304,620.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 76,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,873,700.23. This trade represents a 7.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Peter L. Sefzik sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total value of $1,009,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 189,382 shares in the company, valued at $9,556,215.72. The trade was a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FITB. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 303.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,079,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $932,904,000 after acquiring an additional 15,101,629 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $649,264,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 35,548,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,664,013,000 after purchasing an additional 10,444,799 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 719.2% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,012,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,993,000 after purchasing an additional 2,644,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 23,799,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,114,046,000 after buying an additional 2,574,712 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fifth Third Bancorp Company Profile

Fifth Third Bancorp is a Cincinnati, Ohio–based bank holding company whose primary banking subsidiary operates as Fifth Third Bank. The company provides a broad range of financial services to individual consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies and large corporations. Its business mix includes retail and commercial banking, lending, payment and card services, treasury and cash management, and wealth management and investment advisory services delivered through a combination of branch locations, commercial offices and digital platforms.

On the consumer side, Fifth Third offers deposit accounts, consumer loans, mortgages, auto financing and credit card products, along with digital banking and mobile services.