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

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors acquired 5,622 put options on the company. This is an increase of 22% compared to the average volume of 4,622 put options.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

FITB traded up $1.88 during trading on Friday, hitting $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’s 50 day moving average price is $35.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12 month low of $22.46 and a 12 month high of $37.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.27.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fifth Third Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FITB. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $39.00 target price (down previously from $42.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.63.

Insider Activity at Fifth Third Bancorp

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fifth Third Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FITB. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,083,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,416,985,000 after acquiring an additional 10,472,392 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $257,189,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 6.2% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 58,769,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,565,617,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448,642 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp by 32.1% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,076,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $331,188,000 after purchasing an additional 3,176,903 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Fifth Third Bancorp during the first quarter worth $73,081,000. Institutional investors own 83.79% of the company’s stock.

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.