Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.90.

Several analysts have commented on FULT shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Fulton Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Fulton Financial from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Fulton Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th.

Institutional Trading of Fulton Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Fulton Financial by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 67,939 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,229,000 after buying an additional 7,603 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Fulton Financial by 14.4% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 82,644 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after acquiring an additional 10,433 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P grew its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 168.4% in the first quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 31,936 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 20,036 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 189.6% in the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 15,891 shares of the bank’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 10,403 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Fulton Financial in the first quarter worth about $60,000. 72.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fulton Financial Stock Down 0.6%

FULT stock opened at $20.07 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $18.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.56. The company has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.51 and a beta of 0.86. Fulton Financial has a 12-month low of $14.32 and a 12-month 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 8th. The bank reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $236.96 million during the quarter. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 19.01%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fulton Financial will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fulton Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to reacquire up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.19 dividend. This is an increase from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.70%.

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.