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

Investment analysts at Stephens began coverage on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) in a note issued to investors on Monday. The firm set an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on FITB. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $54.00 target price (down from $57.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday, March 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.29.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB traded down $0.76 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $53.97. The company had a trading volume of 3,196,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,774,981. Fifth Third Bancorp has a twelve month low of $37.88 and a twelve month high of $55.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $48.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.92.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Fifth Third Bancorp

In related news, EVP Peter L. Sefzik sold 20,000 shares of the company’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 owned 189,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,556,215.72. This represents a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kevin J. Khanna sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.77, for a total value of $304,620.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 76,299 shares in the company, valued at $3,873,700.23. This represents a 7.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 303.4% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 15,101,629 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $649,264,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 41.6% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 10,444,799 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 719.2% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,012,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,993,000 after acquiring an additional 2,644,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 23,799,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,114,046,000 after acquiring an additional 2,574,712 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.