Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Announces Dividend Increase - $0.42 Per Share

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp raised its quarterly dividend 5% to $0.42 per share from $0.40. Shareholders of record on September 30 will receive payment on October 15; the annualized yield is approximately 3.2%.
• The bank has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years, with a 40% payout ratio. Analysts expect earnings to comfortably cover the projected $1.60 annual dividend.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $60.54. Recent targets range as high as $67, while the stock recently opened at $53.27.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of 0.42 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, October 15th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This is a 5.0% increase from Fifth Third Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40.

Fifth Third Bancorp has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Fifth Third Bancorp has a payout ratio of 40.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Fifth Third Bancorp to earn $4.96 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.3%.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 1.6%

FITB stock opened at $53.27 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average is $56.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.17. Fifth Third Bancorp has a twelve month low of $40.04 and a twelve month high of $59.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $48.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.87, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.89.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.24 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The firm's revenue was up 45.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Argus raised shares of Fifth Third Bancorp to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.54.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Through its principal subsidiary, Fifth Third Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, governments and institutional clients.

Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, mortgages, home equity loans, consumer lending, credit cards, commercial loans, treasury management and other business banking services. Fifth Third also provides wealth management, investment advisory, brokerage, trust and asset-management services, as well as capital markets and investment banking capabilities for corporate and institutional customers.

Fifth Third Bank operates through a branch and digital banking network primarily serving communities across the Midwest and Southeast, including markets in Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.

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