Baird R W Downgrades Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) to Hold

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Baird R W from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on FITB. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Argus boosted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.28.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FITB traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $43.87. The company had a trading volume of 6,210,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,618,435. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1-year low of $22.49 and a 1-year high of $45.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $30.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.27.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.05). Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.41% and a return on equity of 15.79%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $840,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 114,422 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,805,724. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Fifth Third Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FITB. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 5.4% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,806 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $634,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.7% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 21,705 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $930,000 after buying an additional 1,740 shares during the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $680,000. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 886.9% during the third quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 8,556 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 7,689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tanager Wealth Management LLP acquired a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $210,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.