Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) Upgraded by Piper Sandler to “Hold” Rating

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on FULT. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Fulton Financial in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Fulton Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Fulton Financial in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Fulton Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.00.

Fulton Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FULT opened at $23.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a PE ratio of 11.12 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.70. Fulton Financial has a one year low of $16.60 and a one year high of $23.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $331.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.36 million. Fulton Financial had a net margin of 20.85% and a return on equity of 12.69%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fulton Financial will post 2.17 EPS for the current year.

Fulton Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 1st. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.19%.

Insider Transactions at Fulton Financial

In related news, Director E Philip Wenger sold 5,000 shares of Fulton Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total transaction of $107,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 80,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,723,817.34. This trade represents a 5.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fulton Financial

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Fulton Financial by 0.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,177,001 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $227,333,000 after buying an additional 87,813 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Fulton Financial by 31.2% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 8,050,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $163,756,000 after buying an additional 1,912,709 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Fulton Financial by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,590,883 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $88,743,000 after buying an additional 1,054,321 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Fulton Financial by 25.3% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,583,100 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,753,000 after buying an additional 723,948 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Fulton Financial by 6.4% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,363,509 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,662,000 after buying an additional 203,708 shares during the period. 72.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fulton Financial Company Profile

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.