Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.64.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FULT shares. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Fulton Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Hovde Group increased their price objective on Fulton Financial from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stephens raised Fulton Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised Fulton Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Angela M. Snyder sold 13,322 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.69, for a total value of $275,632.18. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 63,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,317,580.58. This trade represents a 17.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fulton Financial

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

Fulton Financial Trading Down 0.8 %

FULT opened at $18.02 on Monday. Fulton Financial has a 52 week low of $13.87 and a 52 week high of $22.49. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.43. The firm has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.48 and a beta of 0.76.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.06. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 15.87%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Fulton Financial will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Fulton Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.