Fulton Financial (FULT) Announces 6.7% Increase in Dividend
Fulton Financial Corporation FULT announced a sequential dividend hike. The company declared a quarterly cash dividend of 16 cents per share, reflecting a rise of 6.7% from the prior payout. The dividend will be paid out on Jul 14, to shareholders of record as of Jul 3.
Prior to the current hike, the company increased its dividend by 7.1% to 15 cents per share in March 2022. FULT raised its quarterly dividend seven times in the last five years. Also, it has a five-year annualized dividend growth of 5.1%. Currently, the company's payout ratio is 34% of earnings.
Considering the last day’s closing price of $12.61, Fulton Financial's dividend yield currently stands at 4.66%, which is impressive compared with the industry average of 3.15%.
Apart from the regular dividend payments, FULT has a share repurchase program in place. In December 2022, the company announced a new repurchase program, under which, it is authorized to repurchase up to $100 million worth of shares. As of Mar 31, 2023, it had $59.6 million remaining under the repurchase authorization.
Moreover, FULT’s revenues witnessed a compound annual growth rate of 8.4% over the last three years (2020-2022), mainly driven by improving net loan balances. The company’s revenues are expected to grow 5.2% this year.
Fulton Financial's trailing 12-month return on equity (ROE) indicates its growth potential. The company’s ROE of 13.03% compares favorably with 12.14% for the industry. Thus, this reflects that it is more efficient in using shareholder funds.
Supported by its earnings strength and decent balance sheet, the company is expected to continue with efficient capital deployment activities. Through this, Fulton Financial will keep enhancing shareholder value.
Over the past year, shares of FULT have declined 13.6% compared with the industry’s fall of 17.8%.
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Fulton Financial currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Other Banks Taking Similar Steps
Over the past few months, Columbia Banking System, Inc. COLB and Bank OZK OZK announced an increase in their quarterly dividend payouts.
COLB declared a cash dividend of 36 cents per share, marking a 20% hike from the prior payout. The amount was paid out on Jun 15 to shareholders of record as of May 31.
Prior to the current hike, the company increased its dividend by 7.1% to 30 cents per share in September 2021. COLB raised its quarterly dividend five times in the last five years.
Bank OZK declared a cash dividend of 35 cents per share, marking a 2.9% increase from the prior payout. The dividend was paid out on Apr 21 to shareholders of record as of Apr 14.
This represents the 51st consecutive quarter of dividend hike by Bank OZK. Prior to this, OZK hiked its dividend by 3% to 34 cents per share in January 2023.
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