Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.18

Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, March 18th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of 0.18 per share by the bank on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%.

Fulton Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 7.2% annually over the last three years. Fulton Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 34.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Fulton Financial to earn $2.10 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.3%.

Fulton Financial Price Performance

FULT opened at $18.26 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.45. Fulton Financial has a twelve month low of $13.87 and a twelve month high of $22.49.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Fulton Financial will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Fulton Financial

In related news, President Angela M. Snyder sold 13,322 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the president now owns 63,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,317,580.58. This represents a 17.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fulton Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens upgraded shares of Fulton Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Fulton Financial from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Hovde Group boosted their price target on Fulton Financial from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Fulton Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.64.

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.