Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Reaches New 1-Year High at $37.77

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $37.77 and last traded at $37.40, with a volume of 784082 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $36.89.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FITB. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 price target (down from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.50.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $25.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.05. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 17.70%. The firm had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. Analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total transaction of $93,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 136,922 shares in the company, valued at $5,134,575. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total value of $93,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 136,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,134,575. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 229,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,407,751.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,857 shares of company stock valued at $1,787,638 in the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 61,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,110,000 after acquiring an additional 3,476 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 57.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 737,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,551,000 after purchasing an additional 269,152 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 661,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,805,000 after purchasing an additional 69,273 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 48.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 350,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,102,000 after purchasing an additional 113,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,860,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,413,000 after buying an additional 393,937 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Company Profile

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.