Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $18.40.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on FULT shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Fulton Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Fulton Financial from $18.50 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Fulton Financial by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,444,753 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $320,061,000 after purchasing an additional 216,465 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 511.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,256,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,287,000 after buying an additional 2,723,170 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Fulton Financial by 18.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,022,534 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,323,000 after purchasing an additional 474,099 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 28.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,542,068 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,164,000 after buying an additional 567,771 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its stake in Fulton Financial by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 2,057,813 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,942,000 after buying an additional 17,955 shares in the last quarter. 72.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fulton Financial Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ FULT opened at $17.35 on Monday. Fulton Financial has a 12 month low of $11.95 and a 12 month high of $20.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $18.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.10.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.22. Fulton Financial had a net margin of 17.93% and a return on equity of 11.29%. The company had revenue of $334.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $296.38 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Fulton Financial will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fulton Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.24%.

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.