Fifth Third Bancorp’s (FITB) Equal Weight Rating Reaffirmed at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley restated their equal weight rating on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $36.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on FITB. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a market perform rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up from $39.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $36.31.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB opened at $36.55 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $35.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $24.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.27. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12-month low of $22.46 and a 12-month high of $37.41.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 17.70%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.19 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 44.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total value of $971,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,344 shares in the company, valued at $8,407,751.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $540,497.66. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,696,981.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total value of $971,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,344 shares in the company, valued at $8,407,751.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,357 shares of company stock worth $1,693,888 over the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fifth Third Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 27,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $698,000 after buying an additional 2,195 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 322.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 26,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 46.3% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 40,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,442 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.