Girard Partners LTD. Invests $150,000 in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT)

Girard Partners LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 10,856 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $150,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Fulton Financial by 12.0% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 49,094 shares of the bank’s stock worth $816,000 after buying an additional 5,268 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Fulton Financial by 19.4% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 29,186 shares of the bank’s stock worth $485,000 after buying an additional 4,742 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Fulton Financial during the first quarter worth $185,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Fulton Financial by 2.0% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 59,232 shares of the bank’s stock worth $986,000 after buying an additional 1,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Fulton Financial by 2.9% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 31,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $520,000 after buying an additional 887 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Fulton Financial Stock Down 1.1 %

FULT traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $13.12. The company had a trading volume of 72,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,428,953. Fulton Financial Co. has a 52 week low of $9.64 and a 52 week high of $18.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.68 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $13.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.26.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $375.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.30 million. Fulton Financial had a net margin of 22.57% and a return on equity of 13.23%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 3rd were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 30th. This is an increase from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.88%. Fulton Financial’s payout ratio is presently 37.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FULT shares. TheStreet raised shares of Fulton Financial from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $14.50 target price on shares of Fulton Financial in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Fulton Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.60.

About Fulton Financial

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.