Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on FITB. Argus increased their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a market perform rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $43.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $41.16.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock opened at $43.24 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $22.49 and a 52 week high of $43.85.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 17.41%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. This is a positive change from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.98%.

Insider Activity

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, Director Mitchell Stuart Feiger sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.21, for a total transaction of $494,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $863,802.81. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Mitchell Stuart Feiger sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.21, for a total value of $494,520.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $863,802.81. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,376,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,269,920 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,083,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,416,985,000 after acquiring an additional 10,472,392 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $257,189,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 341.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,928,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,521,000 after acquiring an additional 1,492,124 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,337,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 87,343,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,012,472,000 after acquiring an additional 734,403 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.