Reviewing Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) & Eagle Bancorp (NASDAQ:EGBN)

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) and Eagle Bancorp (NASDAQ:EGBN) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Fulton Financial and Eagle Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fulton Financial	$1.89 billion	2.18	$391.61 million	$2.10	10.27
Eagle Bancorp	$634.26 million	1.30	-$138.05 million	($3.79)	-7.16

Fulton Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Eagle Bancorp. Eagle Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fulton Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

72.0% of Fulton Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.0% of Eagle Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Fulton Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of Eagle Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Fulton Financial and Eagle Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fulton Financial	20.85%	12.69%	1.28%
Eagle Bancorp	-18.65%	-10.03%	-1.10%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Fulton Financial and Eagle Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fulton Financial	0	5	2	0	2.29
Eagle Bancorp	1	2	1	1	2.40

Fulton Financial currently has a consensus price target of $23.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.63%. Eagle Bancorp has a consensus price target of $27.50, suggesting a potential upside of 1.36%. Given Fulton Financial’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Fulton Financial is more favorable than Eagle Bancorp.

Dividends

Fulton Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Eagle Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Fulton Financial pays out 36.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Eagle Bancorp pays out -1.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Fulton Financial has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Fulton Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk & Volatility

Fulton Financial has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Eagle Bancorp has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Fulton Financial beats Eagle Bancorp on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The company offers consumer loans products, including home equity loans and lines of credit, automobile loans, personal lines of credit, and checking account overdraft protection; construction and jumbo residential mortgage loans; and commercial lending products comprising commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, and construction loans, as well as equipment lease financing loans. In addition, it offers letters of credit, cash management services, and traditional deposit products; and wealth management services, including investment management, trust, brokerage, insurance, and investment advisory services. Further, the company owns trust preferred securities; and sells various life insurance products. It provides its products and services through financial center offices, as well as through a network of automated teller machines, telephone banking, mobile banking, and online banking. Fulton Financial Corporation was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

About Eagle Bancorp

Eagle Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for EagleBank that provides commercial and consumer banking services primarily in the United States. The company also offers various commercial and consumer lending products comprising commercial loans for working capital, equipment purchases, real estate lines of credit, and government contract financing; asset based lending and accounts receivable financing; construction and commercial real estate loans; business equipment financing; consumer home equity lines of credit, personal lines of credit, and term loans; consumer installment loans, such as auto and personal loans; personal credit cards; and residential mortgage loans. In addition, it provides online and mobile banking services; checking and saving accounts; and other deposit services, including cash management services, business sweep accounts, lock boxes, remote deposit captures, account reconciliation services, merchant card services, safety deposit boxes, and automated clearing house origination, as well as after-hours depositories and ATM services. Further, the company offers insurance products and services through a referral program; and treasury management services. The company serves sole proprietors, small and medium-sized businesses, partnerships, corporations, and non-profit organizations and associations, as well as investors. Eagle Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.