Short Interest in Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) Declines By 5.9%

Fulton Financial Co. (NASDAQ:FULT) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,750,000 shares, a decline of 5.9% from the November 15th total of 6,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Fulton Financial Trading Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ:FULT traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $20.68. 291,833 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,431,286. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Fulton Financial has a 52 week low of $13.87 and a 52 week high of $22.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $19.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.46.

Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.06. Fulton Financial had a return on equity of 11.33% and a net margin of 16.37%. The firm had revenue of $487.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $321.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Fulton Financial will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Fulton Financial

In other news, CEO Curtis J. Myers sold 24,192 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.16, for a total transaction of $511,902.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 155,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,299,817.36. This represents a 13.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fulton Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FULT. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Fulton Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Fulton Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Coston McIsaac & Partners bought a new position in Fulton Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $54,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Fulton Financial by 21.9% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,840 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Fulton Financial by 11.6% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 6,519 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares in the last quarter. 72.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Fulton Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Stephens raised shares of Fulton Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler set a $21.00 price objective on Fulton Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Fulton Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.50.

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.