Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Stock Price Up 1.8%

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)’s share price shot up 1.8% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $37.77 and last traded at $37.57. 1,206,492 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 5,286,853 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.89.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $37.50 to $39.50 in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 target price (up from $39.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.50.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Up 1.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $25.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.65.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total value of $93,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 136,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,134,575. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 46,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,696,981.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the business’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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,857 shares of company stock worth $1,787,638 in the last quarter. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Avalon Advisory Group acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $2,267,000. Csenge Advisory Group raised its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.9% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 37,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,412,000 after buying an additional 1,418 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 17.9% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 1,314 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 424.3% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 19,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $720,000 after acquiring an additional 15,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $88,000. Institutional investors 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.