Fifth Third price target raised to $50 from $49 at DA Davidson

DA Davidson raised the firm’s price target on Fifth Third (FITB) to $50 from $49 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares after its Q4 results. The company’s 90c core EPS topped consensus estimate while the management also provided a positive outlook for 2025 and now expects to achieve positive operating leverage closer to 2%, which is the upper end-of its guidance in early December of 1% to 2%, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Fifth Third has strong momentum on the revenue side, driven by net interest margin expansion and loan growth, and while most of its peers expect loan growth to be soft into Q1, the bank is forecasting a 2% sequential growth and 3%-4% growth for the full year, the firm added.