Baird R W Lowers Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) to Hold

Baird R W cut shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on FITB. Barclays upped their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.28.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 0.5 %

FITB opened at $43.87 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $42.40 and a 200-day moving average of $39.27. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $22.49 and a fifty-two week high of $45.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.05). Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 17.41%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.37 dividend. This is a boost from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $840,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 114,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,805,724. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 13.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 460,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,776,000 after buying an additional 55,081 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 5.4% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.7% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 21,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $930,000 after buying an additional 1,740 shares in the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $680,000. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 886.9% during the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 8,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 7,689 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.