Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.37

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 12th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.37 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th.

Fifth Third Bancorp has a payout ratio of 37.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Fifth Third Bancorp to earn $4.11 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.0%.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Down 2.6%

Fifth Third Bancorp stock traded down $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $37.98. The stock had a trading volume of 3,076,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,479,154. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $32.25 and a fifty-two week high of $49.07. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $37.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.35 billion, a PE ratio of 12.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.90.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.03. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.10% and a net margin of 17.43%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FITB. Barclays dropped their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $56.00 to $51.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Cowen started coverage on Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $43.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. DA Davidson upgraded Fifth Third Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $47.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.53.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 916 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp were worth $543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.