Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Argus

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) was upgraded by analysts at Argus to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Wolfe Research reduced their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Evercore set a $60.00 price target on Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.20.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 0.2%

FITB stock opened at $57.77 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $53.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.85. The company has a market cap of $52.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.90. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12-month low of $40.04 and a 12-month high of $59.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.01). Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The company had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 45.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, EVP Peter L. Sefzik sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total value of $1,009,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 189,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,556,215.72. This trade represents a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FITB. Center for Financial Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $25,000. SouthState Bank Corp boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 74.7% during the 1st quarter. SouthState Bank Corp now owns 552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Monetary Solutions Ltd bought a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

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.