Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Price Target Raised to $54.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) had its price target boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $52.00 to $54.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

FITB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays increased their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Argus increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.09.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

FITB traded down $0.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.99. 3,522,731 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,600,032. The firm has a market cap of $31.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.21. Fifth Third Bancorp has a one year low of $26.89 and a one year high of $48.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $43.61 and its 200 day moving average is $40.36.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 14.58%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. Fifth Third Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 11.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $840,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 114,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,805,724. The trade was a 14.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 46,596,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,733,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,512,333 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,774,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $889,978,000 after purchasing an additional 732,651 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,757,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $356,031,000 after purchasing an additional 281,494 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,679,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $371,837,000 after purchasing an additional 399,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smead Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,224,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,278,000 after purchasing an additional 75,024 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

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.