July 25, 2024
Top 10 Stock Fulton Financial Strong Buy Recommendation
How to read the ranks
For every stock, we judge its performance against its peers and rank it on a scale of 1 to 100. The higher the rank, the better the stock performs than its peers. And, we do this for six investment strategies:
Value - shows how good of a value the stock is. Green is "inexpensive"; red is "expensive".
Growth - shows a company's growth potential. Green is "high growth" expected; red is "tough times ahead".
Safety - relates to the amount of debt a company has. Green is low debt level; red is high debt level.
Combined Financial - this isn't an average of the first three ranks but rather a consolidated view across several financial indicators. Green = good; red = tread carefully.
(NEW) Sentiment - quantifies professional analyst ratings and holdings as well as market pulse. Green = positive sentiment; red = skepticism (Only available to Premium Subscribers).
(NEW) 360° View - the ultimate rating with all financial and non-financial indicators.
Snapshot: Fulton Financial – Top 10 Stock in Dow Jones U.S. Regional Banks Index
Fulton Financial is listed as a top 10 stock on July 25, 2024 in the market index D.J. US Banks because of its high performance in at least one of the Obermatt investment strategies. Three consolidated Obermatt Ranks are above-average. Only the Value Rank is below average. The investment rationale may be an investment in future growth, supported by professional market opinion. Based on the Obermatt 360° View of 94 (top 94% performer), Obermatt assesses an overall strong buy recommendation for Fulton Financial on July 25, 2024.
Snapshot: Obermatt Ranks
| Country | USA |
| Industry | Regional Banks |
| Index | Dividends USA, Diversity USA, NASDAQ, D.J. US Banks, S&P MIDCAP |
| Size class | XX-Large |
When Obermatt identifies the Top 10 stocks in a market, it’s based on a certain investment strategy. The best performing stocks usually aren’t the ones that everyone is talking about (those are often "over-priced" and have low Value ranks).
For each investment strategy, we provide you with more detailed analysis and our recommendation. You see the ranks of the top 10 stocks ranked by that particular investment strategy (360° View, Sentiment, Value, Growth, Safety and Combined Financial Performance).
360° View: Obermatt 360° View Fulton Financial Strong Buy
| 360 METRICS | July 25, 2024 | |||||||
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| VALUE | ||||||||
| VALUE | 48 |
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| GROWTH | ||||||||
| GROWTH | 78 |
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| SAFETY | ||||||||
| SAFETY | 73 |
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| SENTIMENT | ||||||||
| SENTIMENT | 65 |
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| 360° VIEW | ||||||||
| 360° VIEW | 94 |
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ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt 360° View of 94 (better than 94% compared with alternatives) for 2024, overall professional sentiment and financial characteristics for the stock Fulton Financial are very positive. The 360° View is based on consolidating four consolidated indicators, with all but one indicator above average for Fulton Financial. The consolidated Growth Rank has a good rank of 78, which means that the company experiences above-average growth momentum when looking at financial metrics such as revenue, profit, and invested capital growth, as well as stock returns. This means that growth is higher than for 78% of competitors in the same industry. The consolidated Safety Rank at 73 means that the company has a financing structure that is safer than 73% comparable companies when looking at the amount of its debt, its refinancing requirements, and its ability to service debt. Finally, the consolidated Sentiment Rank has a good rank of 65, which means that professional investors are more optimistic about the stock than for 65% of alternative investment opportunities. But the consolidated Value Rank is less desirable at 48, meaning that the share price of Fulton Financial is on the higher side compared with indicators such as revenues, profits, and invested capital. This means the stock price is higher than for 52% of alternative stocks in the same industry. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: With a consolidated 360° View of 94, Fulton Financial is better positioned than 94% of all alternative stock investment opportunities based on the Obermatt Method. As three out of four consolidated Obermatt Ranks exhibit excellent performance, such as above-average growth (Growth Rank of 78), a safe financing structure (Safety Rank of 73), and positive professional market sentiment (Sentiment Rank of 65), it is a solid stock investment where growth may be the strongest driver of the investment rationale, also reflected by institutional investors. It is typical for growth companies to have low value, as is the case here. Investors are willing to pay more for companies that outperform their competitors. So the question is, how much more do you pay for the stock of Fulton Financial compared with alternatives? You can use the following rule of thumb: The growth rank measures the growth momentum of the company (78% better than peers). The value rank could be the reverse reflection of that (22%). A Value Rank below that level may be assessed as expensive, a rank above that is still good value. Sometimes market sentiment just reflects the past, sometimes the reality. You pay more than the market average for this stock, but it may be worth it. ...read more
Sentiment Strategy: Professional Market Sentiment for Fulton Financial positive
ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Sentiment Rank of 65 (better than 65% compared with alternatives), overall professional sentiment and engagement for the stock Fulton Financial is above average. The Sentiment Rank is based on consolidating four sentiment indicators, with half of the metrics below and half above average for Fulton Financial. Analyst Opinions are at a rank of 34 (worse than 66% of alternative investments), which means that currently, stock research analysts tend to warn against investing in the stock of the company. But they are changing their opinions! Analyst Opinions Change has a rank of 93, which means that stock research experts are more positive in their investment recommendations in the company. In other words, they are getting more optimistic of stock investments in Fulton Financial. More encouragingly, the Professional Investors rank is 100, which means that professional investors hold more stock in this company than in 100% of alternative investment opportunities. Pros tend to favor investing in this company. But Market Pulse is on the lower side with a rank of 5, which means that the current professional news and professional social networks are on the negative side when discussing this company (more negative news than for 95% of competitors). ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: With a consolidated Sentiment Rank of 65 (more positive than 65% compared with investment alternatives), Fulton Financial has a reputation among professional investors that is above-average compared with that of its competitors. The sentiment signals are mixed for Fulton Financial. While analysts and the news channels are negative, there is a change in what analysts think. Above-average institutional investors in this company support them. Sentiment signals remain mixed with analysts and news channels pessimistic, though improving, and professional investors above average. ...read more
Value Strategy: Fulton Financial Stock Price Value below-average critical
ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Value Rank of 48 (worse than 52% compared with alternatives), Fulton Financial shares are more expensive than the average comparable stock. The Value Rank is based on consolidating four value indicators, with half of the indicators below and half above average for Fulton Financial. Price-to-Profit (also referred to as price-earnings, P/E) is 66 which means that the stock price compared with what market professionals expect for future profits is lower than for 66% of comparable companies, indicating a good value concerning Fulton Financial's profit levels. The same is valid for Price-to-Book Capital (also referred to as market-to-book ratio) with a Price-to-Book Rank of 24, which means that the stock price is lower as regards to invested capital than for 24% of comparable investments. On the other hand, Price-to-Sales is less favorable than 72% of alternatives (only 28% of peers have an even less favorable ratio). The same is valid for dividend yield, which is lower than 27% of comparable companies, making the stock more expensive as regards to the company's expected dividend payouts. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: The overall picture with a consolidated Value Rank of 48, is a hold recommendation based on Fulton Financial's stock price compared with the company's operational size and dividend yields. This is a puzzling picture, because it means that profits are high while dividends are low. Since the stock price is low compared with invested capital but high in respect to expected revenues, it means that the company has more invested capital than peers for generating the same amount of revenue. Since profits are higher, it could be a "cash cow" situation (using the classic Boston Consulting BCG matrix naming convention) where the company is on a downward trend, still living from the profits of past products. As the company pays low dividends, it may harbor the opinion that a turnaround is possible, and it rather invests the cash than pay it out to shareholders, thus sealing the company's fate early. Any investment optimism should only be a buy trigger once thorough research is completed. ...read more
Growth Strategy: Fulton Financial Growth Momentum high
ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Growth Rank of 78 (better than 78% compared with alternatives) for 2024, Fulton Financial shows one of the highest growth dynamics in its industry. Investors also speak of high momentum. The Growth Rank is based on consolidating four value indicators, with half of the indicators below and half above average for Fulton Financial. Profit Growth has a rank of 82, which means that currently professionals expect the company to grow its profits more than 82% of its competitors. This is a good sign for shareholders, which is confirmed by an above-average Stock Returns rank of 90 (above 90% of alternative investments). But Sales Growth has a below the median rank of 37, which means that, currently, professionals expect the company to grow less than 63% of its competitors, and Capital Growth also has a lower rank of 35. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: The overall picture with a consolidated Growth Rank of 78, is a buy recommendation for growth and momentum investors. Because revenues and invested capital are the more solid growth indicators, the positive development on the profit side is less relevant. It may have been caused by cost-cutting, which may be a negative growth indicator. Finally, the above-average stock returns recently are a thing of the past and not a good indicator of future returns. Investors should be confident that the cost-cutting initiative leading to higher profits is to benefit the company's future. If not, there is little growth momentum, and investment is only advisable if the Value Ranks suggest a good investment timing for Fulton Financial. ...read more
Safety Strategy: Fulton Financial Debt Financing Safety above-average
| SAFETY METRICS | July 25, 2024 | |||||||
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| LEVERAGE | ||||||||
| LEVERAGE | 12 |
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| REFINANCING | ||||||||
| REFINANCING | 86 |
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| LIQUIDITY | ||||||||
| LIQUIDITY | 69 |
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| CONSOLIDATED RANK: SAFETY | ||||||||
| CONSOLIDATED RANK: SAFETY | 73 |
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ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Safety Rank of 73 (better than 73% compared with alternatives), the company Fulton Financial has financing practices on the safer side, which mean that their overall debt burden is lower than average. This doesn't mean that the business of Fulton Financial is safe, it only means that the company is on the safer side regarding possible bankruptcy, assuming that public reporting is correct. The Safety Rank is based on consolidating three financing indicators, with two out of three indicators above-average for Fulton Financial. Refinancing is at 86, meaning the portion of the debt that is about to be refinanced is below average. It has less debt in the refinancing stage than 86% of its competitors. Liquidity is also good at 69, meaning the company generates more profit to service its debt than 69% of its competitors. This indicates that the company is safer when it comes to debt service. However, Leverage is rather large at 12, which means the company has an above-average debt-to-equity ratio. It has more debt than 88% of its competitors. ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: With a consolidated Safety Rank of 73 (better than 73% compared with alternatives), Fulton Financial has a financing structure that is safer than that of its competitors. This is not bad if things go well. The higher debt level means better returns to shareholders if things go well. Many top-performing companies operate with higher debt levels, and Fulton Financial could be in that group. But if you expect the environment to turn rougher, the higher leverage could become a problem. The same is valid if you expect interest rates to rise. That could squeeze shareholder returns, which so far have benefitted from better conditions. ...read more
Combined financial peformance: Fulton Financial Top Financial Performance
| COMBINED PERFORMANCE | July 25, 2024 | |||||||
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| VALUE | ||||||||
| VALUE | 48 |
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| GROWTH | ||||||||
| GROWTH | 78 |
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| SAFETY | ||||||||
| SAFETY | 69 |
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| COMBINED | ||||||||
| COMBINED | 88 |
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ANALYSIS: With an Obermatt Combined Rank of 88 (better than 88% compared with investment alternatives), Fulton Financial (Regional Banks, USA) shares have much better financial characteristics than comparable stocks. Shares of Fulton Financial are low in value (priced high) with a consolidated Value Rank of 48 (worse than 52% of alternatives). But they show above-average growth (Growth Rank of 78) and are safely financed (Safety Rank of 73, which means below-average debt burdens). ...read more
RECOMMENDATION: A Combined Rank of 88, is a strong buy recommendation based on Fulton Financial's financial characteristics. Investors looking for growth and low financial risk may find this stock attractive. While the company Fulton Financial exhibits low value (Obermatt Value Rank of 48), which means that the stock price is rather high, it also demonstrates above-average growth (Obermatt Growth Rank of 78). This is a typical case, as high-growth companies are often expensive. Good financing practices (Obermatt Safety Rank of 73) are a double-edged sword: if the company continues growing, low debt limits shareholder returns. But if the company increases its debt, it will also increase risk. In other words, this is an investment on the safer side, despite the above-average price (low value). ...read more
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