Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Stock Price

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) had its target price cut by Barclays from $56.00 to $51.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on FITB. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Citigroup cut their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective (down from $54.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $42.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FITB opened at $33.32 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Fifth Third Bancorp has a twelve month low of $32.25 and a twelve month high of $49.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $38.95 and a 200-day moving average of $42.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.99.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.43% and a return on equity of 14.10%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 46.98%.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, COO James C. Leonard sold 17,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total transaction of $761,272.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 244,487 shares in the company, valued at $10,820,994.62. The trade was a 6.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 21,700 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.55, for a total value of $945,035.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 130,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,698,778.80. This represents a 14.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FITB. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $371,836,000. PL Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 4,128.0% in the 4th quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,860,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,654,000 after purchasing an additional 1,816,320 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $53,508,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 4,271.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,203,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,172,000 after buying an additional 1,175,834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 9,531,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $402,991,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027,044 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.