Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Analysts

Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $24.75.

Several analysts have issued reports on FULT shares. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Fulton Financial from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $27.00 target price (up from $23.00) on shares of Fulton Financial in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Fulton Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Fulton Financial from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fulton Financial in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th.

Fulton Financial Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of FULT opened at $22.59 on Friday. Fulton Financial has a fifty-two week low of $16.60 and a fifty-two week high of $25.23. The firm has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $23.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $367.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $358.83 million. Fulton Financial had a net margin of 20.63% and a return on equity of 12.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fulton Financial will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Fulton Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fulton Financial

In other Fulton Financial news, Director E. Wenger sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.14, for a total transaction of $120,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 75,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,822,014.78. This represents a 6.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lisa Crutchfield sold 4,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.80, for a total transaction of $101,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,382.40. This trade represents a 34.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fulton Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Fulton Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $676,732,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Fulton Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,271,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 31.2% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 8,050,923 shares of the bank’s stock worth $163,756,000 after buying an additional 1,912,709 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Fulton Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,008,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fulton Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,861,000. 72.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fulton Financial Company Profile

Fulton Financial Corporation is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Its principal subsidiary, Fulton Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions.

Fulton Bank offers consumer and commercial deposit accounts, residential and commercial lending, mortgages, credit cards, treasury management and other financial services. Through its wealth management and investment services, the company also provides trust, fiduciary, investment management and financial planning solutions.