Analysts Set Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) Price Target at $20.64

Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.64.

FULT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stephens upgraded 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 note on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson increased their target price on Fulton Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Fulton Financial from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Hovde Group upped their price objective on Fulton Financial from $22.00 to $22.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Fulton Financial Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FULT opened at $17.97 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.50 and a 200 day moving average of $19.42. The company has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 0.76. Fulton Financial has a 12-month low of $13.87 and a 12-month high of $22.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fulton Financial will post 1.91 EPS for the current year.

Fulton Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. Fulton Financial’s payout ratio is 45.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fulton Financial news, President Angela M. Snyder sold 13,322 shares of Fulton Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.69, for a total transaction of $275,632.18. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 63,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,317,580.58. The trade was a 17.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fulton Financial

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FULT. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Fulton Financial by 89.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 309,252 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,606,000 after acquiring an additional 145,995 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 354,900 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,434,000 after purchasing an additional 2,900 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fulton Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $763,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Fulton Financial by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,358,099 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,752,000 after buying an additional 31,754 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Fulton Financial by 7.6% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 404,878 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,340,000 after buying an additional 28,539 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.02% of the company’s stock.

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.