Morgan Stanley Increases Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Price Target to $67.00

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $60.00 to $67.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 35.16% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on FITB. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $50.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott raised their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $56.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.91.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB opened at $49.57 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $32.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.96. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1 year low of $32.25 and a 1 year high of $55.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.46.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 129,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,265,763.50. This trade represents a 1.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $649,264,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 35,548,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,664,013,000 after purchasing an additional 10,444,799 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 16.6% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,677,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $850,473,000 after buying an additional 2,941,333 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 719.2% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,012,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,993,000 after buying an additional 2,644,332 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 16.7% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 16,037,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $714,457,000 after buying an additional 2,293,939 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.