According to DividendChannel.com, in trading on Thursday, shares of Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) were yielding above the 2% mark based on its quarterly dividend (annualized to $0.24), with the stock changing hands as low as $11.94 on the day. Dividends are particularly important for investors to consider, because historically speaking dividends have provided a considerable share of the stock markets total return. To illustrate, suppose for example you purchased shares of the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) back on 12/31/1998 — you would have paid $123.31 per share. Fast forward to 12/31/2010 and each share was worth $125.75 on that date, a mere $2.44 or 2% increase over all those years. But now consider that you collected a whopping $20.53 per share in dividends over the same period, increasing your return to 18.6%. Even with dividends reinvested, that only amounts to an average annual total return of about 1.4%; so by comparison collecting a yield above 2% would appear considerably attractive if that yield is sustainable. Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) is an S&P 500 company, giving it special status as one of the large-cap companies making up the S&P 500 Index.

In general, dividend amounts are not always predictable and tend to follow the ups and downs of profitability at each company. In the case of Fifth Third Bancorp , looking at the history chart for FITB below can help in judging whether the most recent dividend is likely to continue, and in turn whether it is a reasonable expectation to expect a 2% annual yield.

FITB Dividend HistoryDateDiv^*

06/29/11 0.060 03/30/11 0.060 12/29/10 0.010 09/28/10 0.010 06/28/10 0.010 03/29/10 0.010 12/29/09 0.010 09/28/09 0.010 06/26/09 0.010 03/27/09 0.010 12/29/08 0.010 09/26/08 0.150 06/26/08 0.150 03/27/08 0.440 12/27/07 0.440 09/26/07 0.420 06/27/07 0.420 03/28/07 0.420 12/27/06 0.400 09/27/06 0.400 06/28/06 0.400 03/30/06 0.380 12/29/05 0.380 09/28/05 0.380 06/28/05 0.350 03/29/05 0.350 12/30/04 0.350 09/28/04 0.320 06/28/04 0.320 03/29/04 0.320 12/29/03 0.290 09/26/03 0.290 03/27/03 0.260 12/27/02 0.260 09/26/02 0.260 06/26/02 0.230 03/26/02 0.230 12/27/01 0.230 09/26/01 0.200 06/27/01 0.200 03/28/01 0.200 12/27/00 0.180 09/27/00 0.180 06/28/00 0.180 03/29/00 0.133 12/29/99 0.160 09/28/99 0.133 06/28/99 0.133 03/29/99 0.133 12/29/98 0.133 09/28/98 0.113 06/26/98 0.113 03/27/98 0.113 12/29/97 0.098 09/26/97 0.098 06/26/97 0.098 03/26/97 0.086 12/27/96 0.086 09/26/96 0.086 06/26/96 0.077 03/27/96 0.077 12/27/95 0.077 09/27/95 0.069 * Data may be adjusted for splits; we are not responsible for data errors; always verify data with the company.

According to the ETF Finder at ETF Channel, FITB makes up 4.74% of the SPDR KBW Bank ETF (KBE) which is trading lower by about 0.8% on the day Thursday.

See what other ETFs contain FITB » See what other stocks are held by KBE »

FITB operates in the Banking & Savings sector, among companies like KB Financial Group, Inc. (KB) which is up about 0.5% today, and Shinhan Financial Group Co. Ltd. (SHG) trading lower by about 0.7%. Below is a three month price history chart comparing the stock performance of FITB, versus KB and SHG.

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