Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.17

Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, March 19th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.17 per share by the bank on Monday, April 15th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th.

Fulton Financial has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 3 years. Fulton Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 43.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Fulton Financial to earn $1.54 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.2%.

Fulton Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FULT opened at $15.28 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business’s 50 day moving average is $15.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.58. The company has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.32 and a beta of 0.80. Fulton Financial has a 12 month low of $9.64 and a 12 month high of $17.06.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.02. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 18.94%. The company had revenue of $271.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $268.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. Fulton Financial’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Fulton Financial will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Fulton Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Fulton Financial in the fourth quarter worth $29,379,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Fulton Financial by 6.0% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 21,821,468 shares of the bank’s stock worth $362,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232,379 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Fulton Financial by 108.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,285,030 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,188,745 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fulton Financial by 7.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,117,537 shares of the bank’s stock worth $270,457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Fulton Financial by 14.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,853,370 shares of the bank’s stock worth $106,947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125,867 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on FULT shares. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Fulton Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com raised Fulton Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Fulton Financial from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.60.

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.