Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.50.

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Fulton Financial in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Fulton Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th.

Fulton Financial Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:FULT opened at $20.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $20.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.50. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.00 and a beta of 0.81. Fulton Financial has a 52-week low of $14.70 and a 52-week high of $22.99.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $336.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $336.80 million. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 20.68%.During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.48 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Fulton Financial will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Fulton Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 1st. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.54%.

Fulton Financial announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $150.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to repurchase up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Fulton Financial

In other Fulton Financial news, Director E Philip Wenger sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total value of $97,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 85,477 shares in the company, valued at $1,671,075.35. This represents a 5.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fulton Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FULT. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 220,706 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,992,000 after purchasing an additional 10,242 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 108,096 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 4,727 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 448,832 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,119,000 after purchasing an additional 21,596 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 914.9% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 308,243 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,576,000 after purchasing an additional 277,871 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Fulton Financial during the 1st quarter worth $152,000. 72.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fulton Financial Company Profile

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.