Wedbush Brokers Reduce Earnings Estimates for Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB – Get Rating) – Analysts at Wedbush decreased their Q1 2022 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report issued on Tuesday, April 12th. Wedbush analyst P. Winter now forecasts that the financial services provider will earn $0.71 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.73.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 33.25% and a return on equity of 13.55%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS.

FITB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, January 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, March 28th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, January 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.96.

Shares of NASDAQ FITB opened at $39.63 on Wednesday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a one year low of $34.35 and a one year high of $50.64. The firm has a market cap of $27.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.60, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $45.66 and a 200 day moving average of $44.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.88.

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bowling Portfolio Management LLC increased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.9% during the first quarter. Bowling Portfolio Management LLC now owns 53,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,323,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Veriti Management LLC increased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 687.5% during the first quarter. Veriti Management LLC now owns 103,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,475,000 after purchasing an additional 90,776 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.1% during the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 52,711 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,269,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the first quarter worth approximately $344,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 59.2% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.71% of the company’s stock.

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, President Timothy Spence sold 4,558 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.07, for a total value of $219,103.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Greg D. Carmichael sold 67,687 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.21, for a total transaction of $3,330,877.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,745 shares of company stock worth $3,669,055 in the last ninety days. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 31st will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 30th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 32.09%.

About Fifth Third Bancorp (Get Rating)

Fifth Third Bancorp operates as a diversified financial services company in the United States. The company's Commercial Banking segment offers credit intermediation, cash management, and financial services; lending and depository products; and cash management, foreign exchange and international trade finance, derivatives and capital markets services, asset-based lending, real estate finance, public finance, commercial leasing, and syndicated finance for business, government, and professional customers.

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