Fulton Financial Corporation $FULT Shares Acquired by LSV Asset Management

LSV Asset Management lifted its position in Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) by 6.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 947,575 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,200 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Fulton Financial were worth $17,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Fulton Financial during the second quarter worth about $871,000. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in Fulton Financial by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 337,518 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,089,000 after acquiring an additional 18,432 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fulton Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $647,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 10.0% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,859,152 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,579,000 after purchasing an additional 260,016 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 42.4% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,626,858 shares of the bank’s stock worth $101,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,676,495 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.02% of the company’s stock.

Fulton Financial Stock Up 0.5%

Fulton Financial stock opened at $22.03 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.07. Fulton Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $14.32 and a 1-year high of $22.99. The company has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $336.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $336.80 million. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 12.59% and a net margin of 20.68%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fulton Financial Corporation will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This is an increase from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. Fulton Financial’s payout ratio is presently 36.54%.

Fulton Financial declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 16th that permits the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FULT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Fulton Financial from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Fulton Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Fulton Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director E Philip Wenger sold 5,000 shares of Fulton Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total transaction of $97,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 85,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,671,075.35. This trade represents a 5.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

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.