Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.28.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on FITB shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total transaction of $327,525.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,913 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,441,720.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total transaction of $327,525.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,913 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,441,720.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $840,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 114,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,805,724. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 9.9% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.6% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 51,657 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,885,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.9% in the third quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,985 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.0% in the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,050 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company's stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FITB traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $43.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,652,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,612,664. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1 year low of $23.17 and a 1 year high of $45.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $29.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.22. The business's fifty day moving average is $42.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.57.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 14.58%. Fifth Third Bancorp's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. This is a positive change from Fifth Third Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.17%.

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.