Wall Street Zen Upgrades Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) to Hold

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

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on FITB. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Argus upped their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $49.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.35.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FITB opened at $42.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.34 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.98. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $32.25 and a fifty-two week high of $49.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.72.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.06. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 18.67% and a return on equity of 13.41%. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Evan Bayh purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $41.22 per share, for a total transaction of $123,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 84,942 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,501,309.24. This represents a 3.66% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fifth Third Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. United Community Bank lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 581.0% during the 3rd quarter. United Community Bank now owns 681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1,043.3% during 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. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the first quarter worth $27,000. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

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.