Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Boosts Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Price Target to $39.00

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) had its price target boosted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $37.00 to $39.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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 note on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Stephens reiterated an equal weight rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $35.44.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

FITB opened at $35.30 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.19. The firm has a market cap of $24.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.93, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.27. Fifth Third Bancorp has a twelve month low of $22.46 and a twelve month high of $37.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 18.58% and a return on equity of 16.25%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.04 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.34%.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total value of $181,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 139,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,072,172.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total value of $971,490.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,407,751.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 139,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,072,172.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 145.5% during the 4th quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1,000.0% during the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 43.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the period. 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.