Short Interest in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) Drops By 7.9%

Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,470,000 shares, a decline of 7.9% from the September 30th total of 5,940,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,400,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Institutional Trading of Fulton Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fulton Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. Coston McIsaac & Partners acquired a new stake in Fulton Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $54,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Fulton Financial by 21.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,840 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Fulton Financial in the 1st quarter worth $66,000. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Fulton Financial in the second quarter valued at about $172,000. 72.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on FULT shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Fulton Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Fulton Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Fulton Financial from $18.50 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.83.

Fulton Financial Trading Down 1.5 %

FULT traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $18.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,244,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,465,406. The business’s 50-day moving average is $18.12 and its 200-day moving average is $17.44. Fulton Financial has a fifty-two week low of $12.75 and a fifty-two week high of $20.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 0.73.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 11.14%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fulton Financial will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fulton Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.