Stephens Initiates Coverage on Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Analysts at Stephens started coverage on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) in a research note issued on Monday. The brokerage set an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on FITB. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $67.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wolfe Research cut their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $54.00 target price (down from $57.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.29.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ FITB traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $53.97. 3,196,171 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,774,981. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $37.88 and a 52 week high of $55.44. The company has a market cap of $48.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $49.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.92.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.20. 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 the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fifth Third Bancorp

In related news, EVP Peter L. Sefzik sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $1,009,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 189,382 shares in the company, valued at $9,556,215.72. The trade was a 9.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kevin J. Khanna sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.77, for a total value of $304,620.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 76,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,873,700.23. The trade was a 7.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fifth Third Bancorp

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 303.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 20,079,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $932,904,000 after buying an additional 15,101,629 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $649,264,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 41.6% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 10,444,799 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted 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 worth $140,993,000 after buying an additional 2,644,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 23,799,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,114,046,000 after purchasing an additional 2,574,712 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.