Wall Street Zen Downgrades Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) to Sell

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $50.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.56.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 2.4%

NASDAQ:FITB opened at $55.08 on Friday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52-week low of $32.25 and a 52-week high of $55.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.20. The company has a market cap of $36.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.99.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 19.50% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The company had revenue of $3.82 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.50, for a total value of $109,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 129,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,265,763.50. This represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 100.0% during the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1,043.3% in the second quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 501.9% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Community Bank increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 581.0% in the 3rd quarter. United Community Bank now owns 681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp is a Cincinnati, Ohio–based bank holding company whose primary banking subsidiary operates as Fifth Third Bank. The company provides a broad range of financial services to individual consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies and large corporations. Its business mix includes retail and commercial banking, lending, payment and card services, treasury and cash management, and wealth management and investment advisory services delivered through a combination of branch locations, commercial offices and digital platforms.

On the consumer side, Fifth Third offers deposit accounts, consumer loans, mortgages, auto financing and credit card products, along with digital banking and mobile services.