Short Interest in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Expands By 7.2%

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 20,170,000 shares, an increase of 7.2% from the December 15th total of 18,810,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.6 days. Approximately 3.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Baird R W downgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.92.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Up 2.5 %

Fifth Third Bancorp stock opened at $44.34 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $45.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12 month low of $32.29 and a 12 month high of $49.07. The stock has a market cap of $29.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.24.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.05). Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 16.58%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 49.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total value of $327,525.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,441,720.71. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fifth Third Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FITB. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 89.5% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 56.9% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $39,000. 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.