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

Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.00.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on FULT shares. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Fulton Financial in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Fulton Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of Fulton Financial in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Fulton Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fulton Financial news, Director E Philip Wenger sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.42, for a total transaction of $107,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 80,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,723,817.34. This trade represents a 5.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FULT. Keybank National Association OH raised its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 32,887 shares of the bank’s stock worth $669,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 21,829 shares of the bank’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming raised its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,829 shares of the bank’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,924 shares of the bank’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 89.9% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,282 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. 72.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fulton Financial Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ FULT opened at $21.69 on Friday. Fulton Financial has a 1 year low of $16.60 and a 1 year high of $22.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $21.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.37. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Fulton Financial had a net margin of 20.85% and a return on equity of 12.69%. The firm had revenue of $331.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fulton Financial will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Fulton Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Fulton Financial’s payout ratio is 36.19%.

About Fulton Financial

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.