Short Interest in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) Rises By 5.4%

Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,060,000 shares, an increase of 5.4% from the November 30th total of 5,750,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days.

Insider Activity at Fulton Financial

In related news, CEO Curtis J. Myers sold 24,192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total value of $511,902.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,299,817.36. This represents a 13.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fulton Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Fulton Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Coston McIsaac & Partners bought a new position in Fulton Financial in the third quarter worth $54,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Fulton Financial by 28.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,946 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 1,106 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Fulton Financial by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the period. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fulton Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $172,000. 72.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FULT. Piper Sandler set a $21.00 price target on Fulton Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens raised Fulton Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Fulton Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fulton Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.50.

Fulton Financial Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of FULT stock opened at $19.28 on Thursday. Fulton Financial has a 12 month low of $13.87 and a 12 month high of $22.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 12.20 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $20.25 and a 200-day moving average of $18.73.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $0.50 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $321.00 million. Fulton Financial had a net margin of 16.37% and a return on equity of 11.33%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Fulton Financial will post 1.74 EPS for the current year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.57%.

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.