Fifth Third Bancorp Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:FITB)

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors bought 5,622 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 22% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,622 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FITB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Fifth Third Bancorp from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $39.00 price objective (down from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.63.

Insider Transactions at Fifth Third Bancorp

In related news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total transaction of $971,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,407,751.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total transaction of $971,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,344 shares in the company, valued at $8,407,751.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $181,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 139,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,072,172.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Fifth Third Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 145.5% in the 4th quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 945 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 560 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Clear Street Markets LLC boosted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 93.4% in the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 1,340 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 1,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 1,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Up 5.9 %

NASDAQ FITB traded up $2.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $36.25. 13,812,000 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,509,247. The company has a market capitalization of $24.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Fifth Third Bancorp has a one year low of $22.46 and a one year high of $37.41. The company's 50-day moving average is $35.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.78.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 18.58%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Fifth Third Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.34%.

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.