Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 20,000,000 shares, a decline of 8.9% from the November 15th total of 21,960,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,160,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.8 days. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FITB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Baird R W lowered Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped 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 research report on Monday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.81.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

FITB stock traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $45.05. The company had a trading volume of 5,263,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,544,114. The company has a market capitalization of $30.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1 year low of $32.29 and a 1 year high of $49.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $45.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.77.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. Fifth Third Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total value of $327,525.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,913 shares in the company, valued at $2,441,720.71. This trade represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 9.9% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.6% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.2% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $932,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.