Short Interest in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) Declines By 8.5%

Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,620,000 shares, a drop of 8.5% from the August 31st total of 6,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,600,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FULT. StockNews.com raised shares of Fulton Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Fulton Financial from $18.50 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.40.

Institutional Trading of Fulton Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FULT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Fulton Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $27,805,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 76,320.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,642 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 7,632 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 62.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,490 shares of the bank’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 6,322 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 53.7% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 270,480 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,452,000 after purchasing an additional 94,538 shares during the period. Finally, OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A purchased a new position in Fulton Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.02% of the company’s stock.

Fulton Financial Trading Down 4.4 %

FULT traded down $0.79 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.34. The company had a trading volume of 1,411,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,450,242. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 0.74. Fulton Financial has a 12-month low of $11.63 and a 12-month high of $20.33.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $334.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $296.38 million. Fulton Financial had a net margin of 17.93% and a return on equity of 11.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fulton Financial will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Fulton Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.24%.

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.