Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.64.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on FULT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Fulton Financial from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Fulton Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of Fulton Financial from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Fulton Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Stephens raised Fulton Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

Fulton Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ FULT opened at $19.67 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $20.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. Fulton Financial has a 52-week low of $13.87 and a 52-week high of $22.49.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.06. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 15.87%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fulton Financial will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Fulton Financial’s payout ratio is currently 45.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Curtis J. Myers sold 24,192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total value of $511,902.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 155,946 shares in the company, valued at $3,299,817.36. This represents a 13.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Angela M. Snyder sold 13,322 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.69, for a total transaction of $275,632.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 63,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,317,580.58. This trade represents a 17.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fulton Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FULT. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,455 shares of the bank’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 91,464 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,763,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 18,997 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 602 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 11.6% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the bank’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 57.1% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,200 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. 72.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fulton Financial Company 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.