Fifth Third Hits New High Following Dividend Hike Approval

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By Trey Thoelcke Published

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Shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) opened higher this morning after the company said last night it won Federal Reserve approval for a 25% dividend hike and an expanded, $600 million share buyback plan.

The board of Fifth Third authorized the repurchase of up to 100 million shares, replacing an authorization from 2007, of which about 14 million shares remained. The regional bank’s plan includes possible share buybacks of up to $600 million through the first quarter of next year.

The board also is expected to consider a dividend increase to $0.10 per share for the third quarter when it meets next month. The quarterly dividend has been at $0.08 a share for the past four quarters.

The approval for the plan came after Fifth Third resubmitted its request because it was initially denied in March. Fifth Third did not disclose the reasons for the previous denial.

Shares of Fifth Third opened near $14.83 this morning, up about 3% from the previous close. The share price reached as high as $15.02 in early trading. The 52-week range was $9.31 to $14.73, and the mean price target of analysts was $15.86 before this announcement.

Trey Thoelcke

Photo of Trey Thoelcke
About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.

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