Fifth Third Bancorp Stock: Is Wall Street Bullish or Bearish?
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Cincinnati, Ohio-based Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) operates as the bank holding company providing a wide range of financial products and services. Valued at $24.5 billion by market cap, the firm operates through Commercial Banking, Consumer and Small Business Banking, and Wealth and Asset Management segments.
Shares of the FITB have significantly lagged behind the broader market over the past 52 weeks. FITB has dropped 3.2% over this period, while the broader S&P 500 Index ($SPX) has gained 9.2%. Moreover, shares of FITB are down 11.9% on a YTD basis, underperforming SPX’s 3.7% dip during the same time frame.
Zooming in further, FITB has also underperformed the industry-focused iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF’s (IAT) 7.1% gains over the past 52 weeks and 9% decline on a YTD basis.
Fifth Third Bancorp’s stock prices fell marginally after the release of its mixed Q1 2025 results on Apr. 17. Net interest income (on an FTE basis) rose 3.7% year-over-year to $1.4 billion, supported by effective deposit and wholesale funding strategies that helped lower interest-bearing liabilities costs. Total noninterest income declined 2.3% to $694 million. Meanwhile, its EPS increased 1.4% from the year-ago quarter to $0.71. Additionally, total consumer loans grew 4.6% year-over-year to $46.6 billion, driven by growth in indirect secured consumer loans, residential mortgages, and solar energy installation loans.
Meanwhile, for the current fiscal year, ending in December 2025, analysts expect FITB's EPS to increase nearly 4.8% year-over-year to $3.53. Moreover, the company has a solid earnings surprise history. It beat the consensus estimates in each of the last four quarters.
Among the 22 analysts covering the stock, the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy.” That’s based on 11 “Strong Buy” ratings, one “Moderate Buy,” and 10 “Holds.”
This configuration is slightly more bullish than three months ago, with 10 “Strong Buy” ratings on the stock.
On Apr. 21, DA Davidson analyst Peter Winter lowered FITB’s price target to $42 while maintaining a “Neutral” rating.
As of writing, Fifth Third Bancorp’s mean price target of $43.56 implies a 16.9% premium to current price levels, while the Street-high target of $51 suggests a staggering 36.9% upside potential.
On the date of publication, Aditya Sarawgi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.