Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)

Regional Bank that will have a very strong 2009.

Stock is caught up in the subprime predictament, although they have not made those types of loans. Past management took eye off the ball. New management will put back on course. Continues to buy make additions in good markets.

Stock price of this Rodney Dangerfield of regional banks should slowly but steadily increase by 50% in next two years as its lack of flash becomes appreciated, and will generate solid, increasing dividends as well.

Cramer, Canadian Bank Takeover Target

Footprint is in a terrible market, business is moving out not on, foreclosures will increase, less cashflow in dying markets of OH IN MI. This is a dog on hold now. They will sell good units to cover the bad. Sell processing and Investment arms. Target is $18 by 2010.

Underperform, but only temporary. 5/3 has new management in many crucial divisions and has tremendous potential for growth. Gallup is starting to show 5/3 outperforming same-sized competitors. Look for 5/3 to start coming up after close of 2007.

As a recruiter in this industry, I see their top people fleeing in droves... not a good sign

Ok place to make a dividend & pick up a few points on the coming takeover.When ? Next yr.If not goodbye.

Fifth Third just does not have what it takes to stay competitive in todays world.

I worked at 5/3 from 1998-2002. When they got audited by the state of Ohio for accounting errors in 2002, they lost a lot of value. Much of their growth from the 1990's came from purchasing small banks and using their own high PE stock to fund the sale. Now they can't buy anyone because their stock is low and their internal growth is below average. I would buy US Bank or PNC Bank.

Possible take over High dividend

I have had dealings with this bank, and can tell you that their nasty people IMHO.
Will never use them again. Nasty.

BUT their stock is undervalued and will go up 6-8 points quicky.

Sell at 46-47.

Did I say nasty ?

With the newly announced $1400 that each associate will receive is great. That's a small amount given what Goldman Sachs is paying but every little counts.

banking in general will have too many bad
loans from the housing bust.

Fifth Third Bancorp is a multi-bank holding company with $105.8 billion in assets and banking operations in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee and West Virginia. The group has four business divisions: retail banking, commercial banking, processing solutions and investment advisory.

The recent decision to restructure the balance sheet would help to mitigate the interest rate risk and effectively manage capital. In line with this the transaction to sell $11.5 billion of available-for-sale securities would be used to retire the troublesome high cost wholesale borrowings and reinvest the remaining in higher yields. This would help the annual net interest income rise by $110 to $120 million per year and improve the net interest margin by 40 basis points.

The bank has been very disciplined in keeping its expenses under check and religiously implementing the “great rate” strategy to improve customer satisfaction. Moreover it continuously reviews its distribution channels and closes non-profitable branches. Double-digit growth is expected in the processing solutions business as it enjoys economies of scale by leveraging the existing technology and infrastructure. Growth in merchant services is to be realized from the customer additions made in 2006 and Jeanie ATM network would supplement the same. The aggressive sale force along with conservative underwriting practices, has helped the bank in serving the small towns and acts as entry points for large potential markets regions of Florida

Reading other comments, I think folks are missing the fact that most of the bad news for FITB is already priced into the stock. I bought in my own account an initial nibble position in the high $30s. I also think FITB is a reasonable candidate for a merger/take-out play.

one of the most cost effecient banks since North Fork

Fifth-Third Bank, despite the pseudinomical-numerical identity crisis, is a killer growth bank. Currently priced below historical low CAGR, it could still be in the doldrums for a while. I think they made a few too many risky loans during the go-go years, and are yet to recover their growth.

take over & out preform