Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) Increases Dividend to $0.19 Per Share

Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.19 per share by the bank on Thursday, January 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This is a 5.6% increase from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18.

Fulton Financial has raised its dividend by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 4 consecutive years. Fulton Financial has a payout ratio of 35.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Fulton Financial to earn $2.10 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.3%.

Fulton Financial Trading Up 4.0%

Shares of FULT traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.72. 1,400,179 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,485,886. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.86 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $18.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.40. Fulton Financial has a 1 year low of $14.32 and a 1 year high of $21.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 8th. The bank reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter. Fulton Financial had a net margin of 19.01% and a return on equity of 12.75%. The firm had revenue of $236.96 million during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fulton Financial will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.