Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) Short Interest Down 7.9% in October

Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,470,000 shares, a drop 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 days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FULT. StockNews.com upgraded Fulton Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Fulton Financial from $18.50 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $21.00 price target on shares of Fulton Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.83.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Fulton Financial by 511.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,256,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $55,287,000 after purchasing an additional 2,723,170 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 18.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,022,534 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,323,000 after purchasing an additional 474,099 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Fulton Financial by 28.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,542,068 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,164,000 after buying an additional 567,771 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 0.9% in the second quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 2,057,813 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,942,000 after acquiring an additional 17,955 shares during the period. Finally, Emerald Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 213.6% in the third quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 1,307,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,706,000 after acquiring an additional 890,630 shares during the last quarter. 72.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fulton Financial Price Performance

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

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. Fulton Financial had a net margin of 16.37% and a return on equity of 11.14%. The company had revenue of $487.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $321.00 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fulton Financial will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Fulton Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued 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 dividend yield of 3.75%. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 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.