Short Interest in Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Grows By 22.7%

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) saw a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 23,050,000 shares, an increase of 22.7% from the October 15th total of 18,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,070,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.7 days. Currently, 3.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fifth Third Bancorp

In related news, EVP Kristine R. Garrett sold 7,500 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 55,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,441,720.71. This represents a 11.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jude Schramm sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $840,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 114,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,805,724. This trade represents a 14.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fifth Third Bancorp

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors grew its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 46,596,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,733,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,512,333 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $33,337,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,774,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $889,978,000 after acquiring an additional 732,651 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in Fifth Third Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,490,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 896.7% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 648,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,678,000 after acquiring an additional 583,781 shares during the period. 83.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Down 0.6 %

FITB stock traded down $0.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.99. 3,522,731 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,754,390. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.21. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 52-week low of $26.89 and a 52-week high of $48.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.41.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.05). Fifth Third Bancorp had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 14.58%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. This is a boost from Fifth Third Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Fifth Third Bancorp’s payout ratio is 49.17%.

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.