Stephens Cuts Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) Price Target to $15.50

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) had its target price reduced by Stephens from $16.00 to $15.50 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the bank’s stock. Stephens’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 6.53% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Fulton Financial from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fulton Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Fulton Financial from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.30.

Fulton Financial Stock Performance

Fulton Financial stock traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $14.55. 400,709 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,098,262. Fulton Financial has a 52 week low of $9.64 and a 52 week high of $17.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.88.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The bank reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.02. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 18.31%. The business had revenue of $271.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $268.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. Fulton Financial’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Fulton Financial will post 1.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fulton Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FULT. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Fulton Financial by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 49,094 shares of the bank’s stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 5,268 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 29,186 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 4,742 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fulton Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $185,000. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 59,232 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,142 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 31,259 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 887 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.02% of the company’s stock.

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.