Brokerages Set Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) Price Target at $19.50

Shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.50.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FULT. 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 raised shares of Fulton Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com cut Fulton Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $21.00 target price on Fulton Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Fulton Financial Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FULT opened at $19.06 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $20.42 and a 200-day moving average of $18.85. Fulton Financial has a one year low of $13.87 and a one year high of $22.49.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $487.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $321.00 million. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 16.37%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fulton Financial will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a positive change from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 45.57%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Curtis J. Myers sold 24,192 shares of Fulton Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total transaction of $511,902.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,299,817.36. The trade was a 13.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fulton Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 567,790 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,007,000 after purchasing an additional 34,844 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Fulton Financial by 130.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 557,303 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,104,000 after buying an additional 315,435 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in 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 period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Fulton Financial by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the bank’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Fulton Financial by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,371,223 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $79,264,000 after acquiring an additional 85,574 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.02% of the company’s stock.

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.