Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Short Interest Update

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Fifth Third Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FITB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,774,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $889,978,000 after acquiring an additional 732,651 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 4.8% during 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. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,476,374 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $242,713,000 after purchasing an additional 409,292 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.5% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,224,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,278,000 after buying an additional 75,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 10.0% during the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 1,737,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,450,000 after buying an additional 158,067 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

FITB stock traded up $1.07 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $44.34. The company had a trading volume of 9,304,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,879,152. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1-year low of $32.29 and a 1-year high of $49.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 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 business’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on FITB shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price 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. 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 MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.92.

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.