Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.90.

FULT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Fulton Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Fulton Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Fulton Financial from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th.

Fulton Financial Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ FULT opened at $20.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. Fulton Financial has a twelve month low of $14.32 and a twelve month high of $21.40. The stock has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47 and a beta of 0.85.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $264.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $332.51 million. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 19.01%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Fulton Financial will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Fulton Financial’s payout ratio is 39.79%.

Fulton Financial declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 16th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to buy up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fulton Financial news, Director E Philip Wenger sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total transaction of $97,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 85,477 shares in the company, valued at $1,671,075.35. This trade represents a 5.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Fulton Financial by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,924 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. EJF Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 2.6% during the second quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 22,686 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,262 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 613 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Fulton Financial by 1.2% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 53,768 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,002,000 after buying an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Fulton Financial by 48.0% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,995 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.02% of the company’s stock.

About Fulton Financial

Fulton Financial Corporation, trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker FULT, is the financial holding company for Fulton Bank, headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The company delivers a broad range of banking and financial services through its subsidiary, Fulton Bank, targeting both individual and corporate clients. Fulton Financial’s offerings include deposit accounts, lending solutions, treasury management, and specialized banking services designed to support personal wealth goals and business growth initiatives.

Through Fulton Bank, the company provides retail banking services such as checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential mortgage loans, and home equity products.