Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Short Interest Up 7.2% in January

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,170,000 shares, a growth of 7.2% from the December 31st total of 18,810,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.6 days. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on FITB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.75.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ FITB traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,160,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,736,894. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52-week low of $32.29 and a 52-week high of $49.07. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $44.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.23.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Fifth Third Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 146,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,179,000 after acquiring an additional 8,552 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 88,530 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,743,000 after purchasing an additional 5,292 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 6,275.7% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 21,486 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $908,000 after acquiring an additional 21,149 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,137,000. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,395,778 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $59,209,000 after acquiring an additional 275,559 shares during the period. 83.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.