Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $56.97 and last traded at $57.0540, with a volume of 747161 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $56.37.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FITB. Evercore increased their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $53.00 to $58.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $54.00 price objective (down from $57.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.94.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.77. The firm has a market cap of $52.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.45, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.92.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 12.39%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 53.69%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Peter L. Sefzik sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $1,009,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 189,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,556,215.72. This represents a 9.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kevin J. Khanna sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.77, for a total transaction of $304,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 76,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,873,700.23. The trade was a 7.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FITB. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 18.0% in the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 161,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,189,000 after acquiring an additional 24,566 shares during the last quarter. Robinhood Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $8,529,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,276,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,788,000 after acquiring an additional 39,261 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 27.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,947,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $175,850,000 after purchasing an additional 840,094 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,931,624 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $353,354,000 after purchasing an additional 690,648 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp is a Cincinnati, Ohio–based bank holding company whose primary banking subsidiary operates as Fifth Third Bank. The company provides a broad range of financial services to individual consumers, small businesses, middle-market companies and large corporations. Its business mix includes retail and commercial banking, lending, payment and card services, treasury and cash management, and wealth management and investment advisory services delivered through a combination of branch locations, commercial offices and digital platforms.

On the consumer side, Fifth Third offers deposit accounts, consumer loans, mortgages, auto financing and credit card products, along with digital banking and mobile services.