Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Hits New 1-Year High at $37.77

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) shares reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $37.77 and last traded at $37.40, with a volume of 784082 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.89.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 price target (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Fifth Third Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $37.50 to $39.50 in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.50.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.70% and a return on equity of 16.11%. The firm had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $181,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 139,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,072,172.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total transaction of $971,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 229,344 shares in the company, valued at $8,407,751.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $181,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 139,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,072,172.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,857 shares of company stock valued at $1,787,638 over the last ninety days. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,416,985,000 after acquiring an additional 10,472,392 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $257,189,000. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 32.1% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,076,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $331,188,000 after acquiring an additional 3,176,903 shares during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $67,354,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,428,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $492,117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500,653 shares during the period. 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.