Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research 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 brokerages also recently issued reports on FITB. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.19.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Fifth Third Bancorp stock opened at $48.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $44.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s fifty day moving average is $47.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.64. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $36.64 and a 52 week high of $55.44.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.87. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.39% and a net margin of 15.89%.The business had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 53.69%.

Insider Transactions at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, EVP Kevin J. Khanna sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.77, for a total value of $304,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 76,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,873,700.23. This represents a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Peter L. Sefzik sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total value of $1,009,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 189,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,556,215.72. This represents a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Westpac Banking Corp increased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3,114.9% in the 1st quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 92,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,314,000 after acquiring an additional 89,958 shares during the last quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions boosted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 11.0% during the first quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 130,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,076,000 after purchasing an additional 12,966 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 24.8% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 322,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,995,000 after purchasing an additional 64,201 shares during the last quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 100.0% in the first quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC now owns 23,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,083,000 after buying an additional 11,609 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Fifth Third Bancorp Company Profile

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.