Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 59,112 Shares of Fulton Financial Corporation $FULT

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 421,379 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,112 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.23% of Fulton Financial worth $7,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Fulton Financial by 12.6% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 67,939 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after buying an additional 7,603 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 14.4% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 82,644 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after acquiring an additional 10,433 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P increased its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 168.4% during the first quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 31,936 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 20,036 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 189.6% in the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 15,891 shares of the bank’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 10,403 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new position in Fulton Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.02% of the company’s stock.

Fulton Financial Price Performance

Shares of FULT opened at $20.43 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.42. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Fulton Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $14.32 and a 1-year high of $21.40.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 8th. The bank reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 19.01%.The company had revenue of $236.96 million during the quarter. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fulton Financial Corporation will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is an increase from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.70%.

Fulton Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 16th that allows the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to buy up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on FULT shares. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Fulton Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Fulton Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Fulton Financial from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Fulton Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fulton Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.90.

Fulton Financial Profile

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.