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

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders bought 5,622 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 22% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,622 put options.

Fifth Third Bancorp Trading Up 5.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FITB traded up $1.88 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $36.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,966,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,397,566. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.18, a PEG 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.70. Fifth Third Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $22.46 and a fifty-two week high of $37.41.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Fifth Third Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 43.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 26,500 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 229,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,407,751.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 3,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 8,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Lcnb Corp increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Lcnb Corp now owns 19,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 18,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 41,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,558,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FITB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $34.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 price objective (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 1st. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.63.

Fifth Third Bancorp Company Profile

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.