Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) Cut to Market Perform at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on FULT. Wall Street Zen raised Fulton Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Fulton Financial in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up from $23.00) on shares of Fulton Financial in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Fulton Financial from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.75.

Fulton Financial Trading Up 0.9%

FULT opened at $22.27 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.80. Fulton Financial has a fifty-two week low of $16.60 and a fifty-two week high of $25.23.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.07. Fulton Financial had a net margin of 20.63% and a return on equity of 12.68%. The business had revenue of $367.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $358.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. Fulton Financial’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fulton Financial will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Fulton Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 1st. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director E. Wenger sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.14, for a total transaction of $120,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 75,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,822,014.78. This represents a 6.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lisa Crutchfield sold 4,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.80, for a total transaction of $101,680.00. Following the sale, the director owned 7,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,382.40. The trade was a 34.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fulton Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FULT. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Fulton Financial by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,107 shares of the bank’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 126,249 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,054,000 after purchasing an additional 15,336 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 13,578 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fulton Financial in the second quarter valued at about $2,466,000. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fulton Financial during the second quarter worth about $733,000. 72.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Fulton Financial

Fulton Financial Corporation is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Its principal subsidiary, Fulton Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions.

Fulton Bank offers consumer and commercial deposit accounts, residential and commercial lending, mortgages, credit cards, treasury management and other financial services. Through its wealth management and investment services, the company also provides trust, fiduciary, investment management and financial planning solutions.