Fulton Financial Rewards Shareholders With Special Dividend

Fulton Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FULT) has announced that it will pay a special cash dividend of 3 cents per share to the holders of its common stock. The dividend will be paid on Dec 15, 2017, to shareholders on record as of Dec 1.

Supported by its consistent dividend payments, the company is expected to continue enhancing shareholder value. During second-quarter 2017, the company hiked its quarterly dividend from 10 cents per share to 11 cents.

Additionally, Fulton Financial has an efficient share repurchase program in place. Announced in October 2015, the program authorizes the company to repurchase up to $50 million of its outstanding shares.

Concurrent to the announcement of the special dividend, the company announced that the timeframe of its share buyback program has been extended from Dec 31, 2017 to Dec 31, 2018.

Of the total authorization, nearly $31.5 million of common stock is left to be repurchased, which according to the securities laws and other legal requirements is expected to be repurchased through open-market purchases or other privately negotiated transactions, including without limitation, through accelerated share repurchase transactions.

Investors interested in this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock can have a look at its fundamentals and growth prospects mentioned below.

Earnings Per Share Strength: Fulton Financial witnessed earnings growth of nearly 4% in the last three-five years. Also, the company’s estimated EPS growth rate of 13.3% and 10.4% for 2017 and 2018, respectively, promises rewards for investors in the near term.

Stock is Undervalued: Fulton Financial has a P/E (F1) ratio of 16.98 compared to the industry average of 17.79. Further, the company has a P/B ratio of 1.42, which is slightly below the industry average of 1.46. Based on these ratios, the stock seems undervalued.

Strong Leverage: Fulton Financial’s debt/equity ratio stands at 0.47 compared with the industry average of 0.52. This highlights that the company has a lower debt burden compared with the industry. Thus, it will be financially stable even in adverse conditions.

However, shares of the company have merely gained anything in a year’s time, compared with 4.6% growth of the industry it belongs to. Nevertheless, given its fundamental strength and favorable valuation, the stock has upside potential.



Other Stocks to Consider

A few better-ranked stocks from the finance space are Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBKR) , Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE:SF) and TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:AMTD) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Earnings estimates for Interactive Brokers have been revised 3.2% upward for 2017 over the past 30 days. Its share price has risen 58.1% over the last six months.

Stifel Financial’s earnings estimates have been revised upward by 1.5% for the current year in the past 30 days. Also over the last six months, its share price has increased 18.2%.

TD Ameritrade has witnessed an upward earnings estimate revision of 11.7% for the current fiscal year over the past 30 days. Also, its share price has seen a 32.5% rise over the last six months.

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Fulton Financial Corporation (FULT): Free Stock Analysis Report

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (IBKR): Free Stock Analysis Report

TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (AMTD): Free Stock Analysis Report

Stifel Financial Corporation (SF): Free Stock Analysis Report

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