Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Receives “Equal Weight” Rating from Stephens

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reissued by investment analysts at Stephens in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $51.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock. Stephens’ price target points to a potential upside of 27.15% from the company’s current price.

FITB has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.31.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB traded down $1.52 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $40.11. 1,688,949 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,524,996. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.82. The company has a market cap of $26.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52-week low of $33.82 and a 52-week high of $49.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, COO James C. Leonard sold 17,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total transaction of $761,272.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 244,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,820,994.62. This represents a 6.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 21,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.55, for a total value of $945,035.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 130,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,698,778.80. This represents a 14.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $878,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 7.5% in the third quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the period. Eads & Heald Wealth Management grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 8,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 6,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.