Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Position in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) by 0.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,007,586 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,308 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.55% of Fulton Financial worth $18,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of FULT. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 78.8% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 83,162 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,321,000 after buying an additional 36,663 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Fulton Financial during the first quarter worth about $66,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 5.5% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 72,770 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 3,801 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Fulton Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $452,000. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 70.9% in the first 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 purchasing an additional 32,941 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.02% of the company’s stock.

Fulton Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FULT stock opened at $20.98 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $18.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Fulton Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $13.84 and a 12 month high of $21.65.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 16.37%. The business had revenue of $487.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $321.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fulton Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Fulton Financial’s payout ratio is currently 43.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on FULT shares. Piper Sandler set a $21.00 price target on shares of Fulton Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com lowered Fulton Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Fulton Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.83.

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.