Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) Given “Equal Weight” Rating at Stephens

Stephens reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $16.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on FULT. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fulton Financial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Fulton Financial from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Fulton Financial from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Fulton Financial presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $15.40.

Fulton Financial Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ FULT opened at $14.49 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.88. Fulton Financial has a 52-week low of $9.64 and a 52-week high of $17.06. The firm has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.84 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.02. Fulton Financial had a net margin of 18.94% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business had revenue of $271.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $268.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Fulton Financial will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fulton Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fulton Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FULT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Fulton Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,379,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 21,821,468 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $362,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232,379 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 108.4% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,285,030 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,457,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188,745 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Fulton Financial by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,117,537 shares of the bank’s stock worth $270,457,000 after buying an additional 1,149,047 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in Fulton Financial by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,853,370 shares of the bank’s stock worth $106,947,000 after buying an additional 1,125,867 shares during the period. 72.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Fulton Financial

Fulton Financial Corporation operates as a financial holding company that provides consumer and commercial banking products and services in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. It accepts various checking accounts and savings deposit products, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts.