Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) Shares Acquired by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) by 710.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 699,652 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 613,272 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Fulton Financial were worth $11,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 70.9% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 79,410 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,262,000 after buying an additional 32,941 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Fulton Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $452,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Fulton Financial by 78.8% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 83,162 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 36,663 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 53.7% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 270,480 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,452,000 after purchasing an additional 94,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Fulton Financial during the first quarter worth about $1,941,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FULT. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Fulton Financial from $18.50 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Fulton Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.40.

Fulton Financial Price Performance

FULT opened at $17.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $18.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.10. Fulton Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $11.64 and a fifty-two week high of $20.33. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65 and a beta of 0.74.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.22. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 11.29% and a net margin of 17.93%. The business had revenue of $334.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $296.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Fulton Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Fulton Financial’s payout ratio is 42.24%.

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.