Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) & NatWest Group (NYSE:NWG) Head to Head Analysis

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

Dividends

Fulton Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. NatWest Group pays an annual dividend of $0.63 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Fulton Financial pays out 36.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. NatWest Group pays out 31.3% 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. Fulton Financial has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. NatWest Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Fulton Financial	$1.89 billion	2.29	$391.61 million	$2.09	10.89
NatWest Group	$38.91 billion	1.83	$7.69 billion	$2.01	8.92

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Fulton Financial and NatWest Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Fulton Financial	0	3	2	0	2.40
NatWest Group	0	3	4	1	2.75

Fulton Financial presently has a consensus target price of $24.75, indicating a potential upside of 8.79%. Given Fulton Financial’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Fulton Financial is more favorable than NatWest Group.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Fulton Financial	20.63%	12.68%	1.30%
NatWest Group	20.10%	14.01%	0.82%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

72.0% of Fulton Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 1.3% of NatWest Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Fulton Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Fulton Financial has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NatWest Group has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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.

About NatWest Group

NatWest Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services to personal, commercial, corporate, and institutional customers in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates through Retail Banking, Private Banking, and Commercial & Institutional segments. The Retail Banking segment offers a range of banking products and related financial services, such as current accounts, mortgages, personal unsecured lending, and personal deposits, as well as mobile and online banking services. The Private Banking segment provides private banking and wealth management products for high-net-worth individuals and their business interests. The Commercial & Institutional segment offers banking and financial solutions to large corporate organisations, multi-nationals, and financial institutions. The company was formerly known as The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc and changed its name to NatWest Group plc in July 2020. NatWest Group plc was founded in 1727 and is headquartered in Edinburgh, the United Kingdom.