Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with a target price averaging $48.13 per share.
• The company recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.40 per share, reflecting a 3.5% yield and a payout ratio of 45.96%.
• Fifth Third Bancorp initiated a share repurchase program authorizing the buyback of 100 million shares, indicating a belief from leadership that the stock is undervalued.

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $48.1333.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock opened at $46.08 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1-year low of $32.25 and a 1-year high of $49.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.31, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.93.

Fifth Third Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, June 16th that authorizes the company to buyback 100,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. This is an increase from Fifth Third Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Fifth Third Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 45.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 83,849,824 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,448,743,000 after acquiring an additional 1,301,624 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,306,918 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $958,614,000 after purchasing an additional 398,517 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,677,686 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $850,473,000 after purchasing an additional 2,941,333 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,008,755 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $737,728,000 after purchasing an additional 619,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $357,440,000. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company's stock.

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.

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