StockNews.com Upgrades Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) to Hold

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also commented on FULT. Stephens raised Fulton Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler set a $21.00 target price on shares of Fulton Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Fulton Financial from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.67.

Fulton Financial Price Performance

Fulton Financial stock opened at $20.58 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $20.47 and a 200-day moving average of $19.11. Fulton Financial has a 52-week low of $13.87 and a 52-week high of $22.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 0.79.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.06. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 11.78% and a net margin of 15.87%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Fulton Financial will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Fulton Financial’s payout ratio is 45.86%.

Insider Activity at Fulton Financial

In other news, CEO Curtis J. Myers sold 24,192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total value of $511,902.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 155,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,299,817.36. This represents a 13.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fulton Financial

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Fulton Financial by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 567,790 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,007,000 after buying an additional 34,844 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Fulton Financial by 130.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 557,303 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,104,000 after purchasing an additional 315,435 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in Fulton Financial during the third quarter valued at $3,489,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,371,223 shares of the bank’s stock worth $79,264,000 after purchasing an additional 85,574 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 145.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 89,378 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,620,000 after buying an additional 52,997 shares during the last quarter. 72.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.