Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.64.

FULT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Fulton Financial from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Fulton Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of Fulton Financial from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Stephens raised shares of Fulton Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Fulton Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

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Insider Activity

In related news, President Angela M. Snyder sold 13,322 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.69, for a total value of $275,632.18. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 63,682 shares in the company, valued at $1,317,580.58. This represents a 17.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 193.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,294 shares of the bank's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 853 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Fulton Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Fulton Financial by 57.1% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,200 shares of the bank's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Fulton Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 196.9% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,976 shares of the bank's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 2,637 shares during the period. 72.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fulton Financial Price Performance

FULT stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $18.26. The stock had a trading volume of 839,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,405,090. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Fulton Financial has a 52 week low of $13.87 and a 52 week high of $22.49.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.06. Fulton Financial had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 11.41%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fulton Financial will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Fulton Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Fulton Financial's payout ratio is 45.86%.

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.