Wells Fargo & Company Raises Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Price Target to $41.00

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) had its price objective increased by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $39.00 to $41.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 10.66% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on FITB. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $33.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $41.00 price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.72.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of FITB traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $37.05. The stock had a trading volume of 828,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,560,597. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.68. Fifth Third Bancorp has a one year low of $22.46 and a one year high of $37.36. The firm has a market cap of $25.24 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.22. Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 18.58% and a return on equity of 16.25%. The company had revenue of $3.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fifth Third Bancorp

In other news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total value of $971,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 229,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,407,751.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.66, for a total value of $971,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,407,751.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 139,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,072,172.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FITB. Fairfield Bush & CO. increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 36,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,570,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the period. Aviva PLC boosted its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 22.0% in the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 255,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,008,000 after buying an additional 46,064 shares during the period. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $754,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 54,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,365,000 after purchasing an additional 6,341 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 60.8% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 121,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,224,000 after acquiring an additional 45,910 shares during the period. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.