Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Lifted to “Overweight” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) was upgraded by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $39.50 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $37.50. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 8.34% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on FITB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up from $39.00) on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. DA Davidson increased their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fifth Third Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.50.

Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ FITB opened at $36.46 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The business’s 50 day moving average is $35.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.27. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 12-month low of $22.46 and a 12-month high of $37.41.

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. Fifth Third Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.11% and a net margin of 17.70%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Fifth Third Bancorp will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fifth Third Bancorp news, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $540,497.66. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,646 shares in the company, valued at $1,696,981.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Jude Schramm sold 5,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 139,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,072,172.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kala Gibson sold 14,857 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $540,497.66. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,696,981.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 46,357 shares of company stock valued at $1,693,888. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its position in Fifth Third Bancorp by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 115,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,287,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 16.3% in the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in Fifth Third Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $622,000. Outfitter Financial LLC grew its stake in Fifth Third Bancorp by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Outfitter Financial LLC now owns 29,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodward Diversified Capital LLC increased its holdings in Fifth Third Bancorp by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 13,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. 83.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.