Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) Sets New 12-Month High at $17.82

Shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $17.82 and last traded at $17.78, with a volume of 145416 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.41.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on FULT shares. Janney Montgomery Scott raised Fulton Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $19.50 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Fulton Financial from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Stephens raised their price target on Fulton Financial from $15.50 to $17.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Fulton Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Fulton Financial from $18.50 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.40.

Fulton Financial Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $16.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 0.75.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The bank reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $230.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $268.90 million. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 18.31%. Research analysts anticipate that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Fulton Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.24%.

Institutional Trading of Fulton Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,918,831 shares of the bank’s stock worth $196,188,000 after acquiring an additional 297,923 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Fulton Financial by 16.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,682,119 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,370,000 after buying an additional 232,462 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Fulton Financial by 53.7% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 270,480 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,452,000 after buying an additional 94,538 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Fulton Financial by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 481,189 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,920,000 after buying an additional 6,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Fulton Financial during the first quarter worth $36,000. 72.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.