Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the four ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $15.60.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on FULT shares. TheStreet raised Fulton Financial from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on Fulton Financial in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $14.50 target price on shares of Fulton Financial in a research note on Thursday, July 20th.

Fulton Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FULT stock opened at $13.19 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.67 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $13.36 and a 200 day moving average of $13.08. Fulton Financial has a 1 year low of $9.64 and a 1 year high of $18.91.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $375.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.30 million. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 22.57%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Fulton Financial will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 30th. This is a positive change from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Fulton Financial’s payout ratio is presently 37.21%.

Institutional Trading of Fulton Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Fulton Financial by 5,720.5% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,664,678 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $91,976,000 after purchasing an additional 7,532,994 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Fulton Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,379,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Fulton Financial by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 21,821,468 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $362,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232,379 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 108.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,285,030 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,457,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 7.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,117,537 shares of the bank’s stock worth $270,457,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149,047 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

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.