Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 22,115 Shares of Fulton Financial Corporation $FULT

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 879,350 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 22,115 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.48% of Fulton Financial worth $16,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EJF Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fulton Financial by 2.6% in the second quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 22,686 shares of the bank’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Fulton Financial by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 53,768 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 623 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in Fulton Financial by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 52,371 shares of the bank’s stock worth $976,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Fulton Financial by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 88,351 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 235,952 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,396,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fulton Financial

In other news, Director E Philip Wenger sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total value of $97,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 85,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,671,075.35. The trade was a 5.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FULT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Fulton Financial from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Fulton Financial in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.50.

Fulton Financial Stock Down 0.1%

FULT opened at $22.72 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.97. Fulton Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $14.32 and a 52 week high of $22.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.92 and a beta of 0.86.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $336.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $336.80 million. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 12.59% and a net margin of 20.68%.During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.48 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Fulton Financial Corporation will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fulton Financial announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 16th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Fulton Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Fulton Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. Fulton Financial’s payout ratio is 36.54%.

About Fulton Financial

Fulton Financial Corporation, trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker FULT, is the financial holding company for Fulton Bank, headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The company delivers a broad range of banking and financial services through its subsidiary, Fulton Bank, targeting both individual and corporate clients. Fulton Financial’s offerings include deposit accounts, lending solutions, treasury management, and specialized banking services designed to support personal wealth goals and business growth initiatives.

Through Fulton Bank, the company provides retail banking services such as checking and savings accounts, consumer and residential mortgage loans, and home equity products.