Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.37

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 20th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.37 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%.

Fifth Third Bancorp has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Fifth Third Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 36.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Fifth Third Bancorp to earn $4.11 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.0%.

Fifth Third Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of FITB traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $39.52. The company had a trading volume of 2,075,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,198,444. The company has a market capitalization of $26.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.61. Fifth Third Bancorp has a 1-year low of $33.82 and a 1-year high of $49.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kevin P. Lavender sold 21,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.55, for a total transaction of $945,035.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 130,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,698,778.80. This represents a 14.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO James C. Leonard sold 17,200 shares of Fifth Third Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.26, for a total transaction of $761,272.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 244,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,820,994.62. This trade represents a 6.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays increased their target price on Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Fifth Third Bancorp from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Fifth Third Bancorp in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fifth Third Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.36.

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.