Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) Short Interest Update

Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,060,000 shares, a growth of 5.4% from the November 30th total of 5,750,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,430,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days.

Fulton Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ FULT traded down $0.18 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $19.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 641,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,437,632. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.73. Fulton Financial has a 12 month low of $13.87 and a 12 month high of $22.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 16.37%. The business had revenue of $487.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $321.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fulton Financial will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. This is a boost from Fulton Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Fulton Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Fulton Financial news, CEO Curtis J. Myers sold 24,192 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total value of $511,902.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 155,946 shares in the company, valued at $3,299,817.36. This trade represents a 13.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fulton Financial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Fulton Financial by 130.4% during 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 last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 52.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 31,500 shares of the bank's stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 10,773 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Fulton Financial by 11.6% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the bank's stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 676 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Fulton Financial by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,371,223 shares of the bank's stock valued at $79,264,000 after buying an additional 85,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in Fulton Financial by 79.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 420,636 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,626,000 after acquiring an additional 186,215 shares during the last quarter. 72.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on FULT shares. StockNews.com cut Fulton Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Fulton Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens upgraded shares of Fulton Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $21.00 price target on shares of Fulton Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fulton Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $19.50.

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.