Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reiterates “Market Perform” Rating for Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed their market perform rating on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $40.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $39.00.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $39.00 target price (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $36.31.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

FITB stock opened at $36.55 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.97. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $22.46 and a fifty-two week high of $37.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.90 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.27.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.70% and a return on equity of 16.11%. The firm had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. Analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.19 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total transaction of $971,490.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,407,751.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total value of $971,490.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,407,751.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 46,646 shares in the company, valued at $1,696,981.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,357 shares of company stock valued at $1,693,888 in the last three months. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 145.5% in the 4th quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 322.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.