Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,940,000 shares, an increase of 5.7% from the September 15th total of 5,620,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,530,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Fulton Financial Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of FULT opened at $18.43 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Fulton Financial has a 1-year low of $11.99 and a 1-year high of $20.33. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.10 and a 200 day moving average of $17.26.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 17.93% and a return on equity of 11.29%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Fulton Financial will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Fulton Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 42.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fulton Financial

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Fulton Financial in the second quarter worth about $46,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 21.9% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,840 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Fulton Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $66,000. AE Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Fulton Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $172,000. Finally, Atwater Malick LLC purchased a new stake in Fulton Financial during the second quarter worth $175,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Fulton Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Fulton Financial from $18.50 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.40.

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.