Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Fifth Third Bancorp to a strong sell from a sell in its latest research note.
• Despite the downgrade, the analyst consensus remains a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $57.19 and the majority of analysts rating the stock Buy/Outperform.
• Fifth Third beat quarterly EPS estimates (reported $0.83 vs. consensus -$0.04) and currently trades around $50.46, with a market cap of $45.7B and a P/E of 16.93.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Argus increased their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $49.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $67.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott increased their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $56.25 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.19.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ FITB opened at $50.46 on Friday. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1 year low of $36.48 and a 1 year high of $55.44. 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 firm has a market cap of $45.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $48.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.25.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.87. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 12.39%. The firm had revenue of $2.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kevin J. Khanna sold 6,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 76,299 shares in the company, valued at $3,873,700.23. This trade represents a 7.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Peter L. Sefzik sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.46, for a total transaction of $1,009,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 189,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,556,215.72. This represents a 9.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 69.4% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 209,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,741,000 after purchasing an additional 85,903 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 96.4% during the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 9,002 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 4,418 shares during the period. Midwest Trust Co boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.6% during the first quarter. Midwest Trust Co now owns 290,369 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,491,000 after purchasing an additional 1,721 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 33.6% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 916,927 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $42,600,000 after purchasing an additional 230,687 shares during the period. Finally, Sachetta LLC boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 85.6% during the first quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 735 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.

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