Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Short Interest Down 9.2% in August

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 22,150,000 shares, a drop of 9.2% from the July 31st total of 24,400,000 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 4,380,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.1 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,422 shares in the company, valued at $5,376,880. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.77, for a total transaction of $835,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,087 shares in the company, valued at $5,224,883.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 134,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,376,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,500 shares of company stock worth $2,269,920 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 125.0% in the 1st quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 130.6% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FITB. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.56.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Down 0.5 %

FITB stock traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $42.49. The company had a trading volume of 2,918,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,710,711. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1 year low of $22.49 and a 1 year high of $42.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $29.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.55, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.40.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by ($0.04). Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 17.41% and a return on equity of 15.79%. The business had revenue of $3.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

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.