Sifting through countless of stocks in the Banks industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Popular, Inc. or Fifth Third Bancorp because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Popular, Inc. and Fifth Third Bancorp compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Popular, Inc. and Fifth Third Bancorp

Popular, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various retail, mortgage, and commercial banking services for individuals and businesses in Puerto Rico, the United States, the British Virgin Islands, the Caribbean, and Latin America. The company offers savings, NOW, money market, and other interest-bearing demand accounts; non-interest bearing demand deposits; checking accounts; individual retirement accounts and educational contribution accounts; business accounts; investment accounts; private management accounts; and certificates of deposit. It also provides commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, commercial multi-family, and residential mortgage loans; consumer loans, including unsecured personal loans, home equity lines of credit, and other loans to individual borrowers; construction loans; lease financing comprising automobile loans and leases; renewable energy and marine loans; and startup program and healthcare hub financing. In addition, the company offers auto and equipment leasing and financing; broker-dealer; international and private banking; insurance services, such as travel, property, auto and boat, health, life, and title; debit and credit cards; family of funds and Keogh plans; mobile easy deposit, foreign exchange, and fiduciary services; retirement plans; wire transfers; coordination of auto, aircraft, and helicopter loans; financial planning; investment advice; ATM; and online banking services. Popular, Inc. was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.

Fifth Third Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Fifth Third Bank, National Association that provides 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. The Commercial Banking segment offers credit intermediation, cash management, and financial services; lending and depository products; and cash management, foreign exchange and international trade finance, derivatives and capital markets services, asset-based lending, real estate finance, public finance, commercial leasing, and syndicated finance for business, government, and professional customers. Its Consumer and Small Banking segment engages in the provision of a range of deposit and loan products to individuals and small businesses; residential mortgage activities, including the origination, retention and servicing of residential mortgage loans, sales and securitizations of loans, and associated hedging activities; home equity loans and lines of credit, credit cards, automobile and other indirect lending, and other consumer lending services; and home improvement and solar energy installation loans through contractors and installers. The Wealth and Asset Management segment provides various wealth management services, such as wealth planning, investment management, banking, insurance, trust, and estate services for for individuals, companies, and not-for-profit organizations; retail brokerage services for individual clients; and advisory services for institutional clients. Fifth Third Bancorp was founded in 1858 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Latest Banks and Popular, Inc., Fifth Third Bancorp Stock News

As of July 31, 2026, Popular, Inc. had a $11.2 billion market capitalization, compared to the Banks median of $716.9 million. Popular, Inc.’s stock is up 40.7% in 2026, up 2% in the previous five trading days and up 53.42% in the past year.

Currently, Popular, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 13.0. Popular, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $3.0 billion with a 31.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 9.6%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $15.758 per share for the current fiscal year. Popular, Inc. currently has a 2.1% dividend yield.

As of July 31, 2026, Fifth Third Bancorp had a $51.2 billion market cap, putting it in the 94th percentile of all stocks. Fifth Third Bancorp’s stock is up 20.7% in 2026, down 1.6% in the previous five trading days and up 33.82% in the past year.

Currently, Fifth Third Bancorp’s price-earnings ratio is 19.9. Fifth Third Bancorp’s trailing 12-month revenue is $9.0 billion with a 23.3% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 33.0%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $4.080 per share for the current fiscal year. Fifth Third Bancorp currently has a 2.8% dividend yield.

How We Compare Popular, Inc. and Fifth Third Bancorp Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Popular, Inc. and Fifth Third Bancorp’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Popular, Inc. and Fifth Third Bancorp Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Popular, Inc.	BPOP	A
Fifth Third Bancorp	FITB	C

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Popular, Inc. has a Growth Score of 95, which is Very Strong. Fifth Third Bancorp has a Growth Score of 56, which is Average.

The Growth Grade Winner: Popular, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, Popular, Inc. has a more attractive growth grade than Fifth Third Bancorp. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, Popular, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Popular, Inc. and Fifth Third Bancorp’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Popular, Inc.	BPOP	D
Fifth Third Bancorp	FITB	F

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Popular, Inc. has a Quality Score of 30, which is Weak. Fifth Third Bancorp has a Quality Score of 2, which is Very Weak.

The Quality Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Popular, Inc. or Fifth Third Bancorp has a high enough Quality Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Popular, Inc. or Fifth Third Bancorp is the better investment when it comes to quality.

Popular, Inc. and Fifth Third Bancorp’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Popular, Inc.	BPOP	B
Fifth Third Bancorp	FITB	B

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Popular, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 79, which is Strong. Fifth Third Bancorp has a Momentum Score of 70, which is Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Momentum Grade breakdown above, both Popular, Inc. and Fifth Third Bancorp have a grade of B. For those who focus solely on a company’s momentum, further research will need to be conducted into both companies to see if they fit your individual needs as an investor.

Other Popular, Inc. and Fifth Third Bancorp Grades

In addition to Growth, Quality and Momentum, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Estimate Revisions.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Popular, Inc. and Fifth Third Bancorp pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Popular, Inc. or Fifth Third Bancorp Stock?

Overall, Popular, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 95, Momentum Score of 79 and Quality Score of 30.

Fifth Third Bancorp stock has a Growth Score of 56, Momentum Score of 70 and Quality Score of 2.

Comparing Popular, Inc. and Fifth Third Bancorp’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.