Guggenheim Capital LLC Buys New Position in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT)

Guggenheim Capital LLC purchased a new position in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 45,721 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $632,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 85,969 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,447,000 after buying an additional 710 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in Fulton Financial by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 7,082 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 742 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Fulton Financial by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 192,540 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,240,000 after acquiring an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 64,949 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,725 shares of the bank’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Fulton Financial Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ FULT opened at $13.03 on Thursday. Fulton Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $9.64 and a 12 month high of $18.91. The company has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.56 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $375.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $270.30 million. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 22.57%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Fulton Financial Co. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 14th. Investors of record on Monday, July 3rd were given a $0.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 30th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. Fulton Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on FULT. StockNews.com began coverage on Fulton Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. TheStreet upgraded shares of Fulton Financial from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $14.50 price target on shares of Fulton Financial in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fulton Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.60.

Fulton Financial 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.