StockNews.com Downgrades Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) to Sell

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Monday.

FITB has been the subject of several other reports. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird reissued a neutral rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $40.15.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock opened at $41.83 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.11. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52 week low of $22.49 and a 52 week high of $42.26.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.41% and a return on equity of 15.79%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In related news, Director Mitchell Stuart Feiger sold 12,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 20,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $863,802.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Mitchell Stuart Feiger sold 12,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 20,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $863,802.81. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total transaction of $835,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,224,883.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 37,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,523,670. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 125.0% in the 1st quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.