Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Monday morning.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on FITB. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday. DA Davidson increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $39.00 price target (down from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America raised their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Fifth Third Bancorp from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $43.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, May 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $40.15.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FITB opened at $41.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.11. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1-year low of $22.49 and a 1-year high of $42.26. The company has a market cap of $28.61 billion, a PE ratio of 13.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.24.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.04). Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 17.41%. The company had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total value of $93,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 136,922 shares in the company, valued at $5,134,575. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was 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 owns 125,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,224,883.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.50, for a total value of $93,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 136,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,134,575. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,000 shares of company stock worth $1,523,670 over the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fifth Third Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 61,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,110,000 after buying an additional 3,476 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $2,257,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 88,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,056,000 after buying an additional 21,251 shares during the last quarter. rhino investment partners Inc boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. rhino investment partners Inc now owns 1,301,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,891,000 after buying an additional 217,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 661,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,805,000 after buying an additional 69,273 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.