Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Short Interest Down 9.5% in October

by · The Markets Daily

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB – Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 18,790,000 shares, a drop of 9.5% from the September 30th total of 20,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,990,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.7 days. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FITB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Baird R W cut shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.28.

Read Our Latest Report on Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ FITB traded down $0.54 on Friday, reaching $43.14. The company had a trading volume of 5,665,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,606,948. The firm has a market cap of $29.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.22. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $24.02 and a fifty-two week high of $45.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $42.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.58% and a net margin of 16.58%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.33 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 49.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total value of $327,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,441,720.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.67, for a total value of $327,525.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,441,720.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $840,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 114,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,805,724. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park National Corp OH raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 15.0% in the 2nd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 41,503 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,514,000 after acquiring an additional 5,411 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,254,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $639,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 9.1% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 313,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,657,000 after purchasing an additional 26,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 827,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,796,000 after buying an additional 18,208 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

About Fifth Third Bancorp

(Get Free Report)

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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