Analyzing Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) & ACNB (NASDAQ:ACNB)

ACNB (NASDAQ:ACNB) and Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

32.4% of ACNB shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.0% of Fulton Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of ACNB shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Fulton Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares ACNB and Fulton Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
ACNB	27.15%	13.78%	1.77%
Fulton Financial	20.63%	12.68%	1.30%

Risk and Volatility

ACNB has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fulton Financial has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for ACNB and Fulton Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
ACNB	0	3	2	0	2.40
Fulton Financial	0	3	2	0	2.40

ACNB presently has a consensus price target of $64.50, suggesting a potential upside of 1.67%. Fulton Financial has a consensus price target of $24.75, suggesting a potential upside of 7.38%. Given Fulton Financial’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Fulton Financial is more favorable than ACNB.

Dividends

ACNB pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Fulton Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. ACNB pays out 31.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fulton Financial pays out 36.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. ACNB has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years and Fulton Financial has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares ACNB and Fulton Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
ACNB	$191.82 million	3.36	$37.05 million	$5.27	12.04
Fulton Financial	$1.89 billion	2.32	$391.61 million	$2.09	11.03

Fulton Financial has higher revenue and earnings than ACNB. Fulton Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ACNB, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

ACNB beats Fulton Financial on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ACNB

ACNB Corporation, a financial holding company, offers banking, insurance, and financial services to individual, business, and government customers in the United States. The company provides checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as time deposits and debit cards. It also offers commercial lending products, such as commercial mortgages, real estate development and construction loans, accounts receivable and inventory financing, and agricultural and governmental loans; consumer lending products, including home equity loans and lines of credit, automobile and recreational vehicle loans, manufactured housing loans, and personal lines of credit; and mortgage lending programs include personal residential mortgages, and residential construction and investment mortgage loans. In addition, the company provides other services that are related to testamentary trusts, life insurance trusts, charitable remainder trusts, guardianships, powers of attorney, custodial accounts, and investment management and advisory accounts; and retail brokerage services. Further, it acts as a trustee to invest in, protect, manage, and distribute financial assets. Additionally, the company offers property and casualty, health, life, and disability insurance products to commercial and personal clients; and online, telephone, and mobile banking, as well as automated teller machine services. ACNB Corporation was founded in 1857 and is headquartered in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

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. The company offers consumer loans products, including home equity loans and lines of credit, automobile loans, personal lines of credit, and checking account overdraft protection; construction and jumbo residential mortgage loans; and commercial lending products comprising commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, and construction loans, as well as equipment lease financing loans. In addition, it offers letters of credit, cash management services, and traditional deposit products; and wealth management services, including investment management, trust, brokerage, insurance, and investment advisory services. Further, the company owns trust preferred securities; and sells various life insurance products. It provides its products and services through financial center offices, as well as through a network of automated teller machines, telephone banking, mobile banking, and online banking. Fulton Financial Corporation was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.