Fulton Financial (FULT) Competitors

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) and Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, community ranking, risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Is SFNC or FULT a better dividend stock?

Simmons First National pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Fulton Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Simmons First National pays out 63.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Fulton Financial pays out 42.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Simmons First National has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Fulton Financial has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Simmons First National is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is SFNC or FULT more profitable?

Fulton Financial has a net margin of 18.31% compared to Fulton Financial's net margin of 11.97%. Simmons First National's return on equity of 11.50% beat Fulton Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Simmons First National	11.97%	5.94%	0.73%
Fulton Financial	18.31%	11.50%	1.06%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of SFNC or FULT?

27.6% of Simmons First National shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.0% of Fulton Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of Simmons First National shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Fulton Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer SFNC or FULT?

Fulton Financial received 1 more outperform votes than Simmons First National when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 48.47% of users gave Simmons First National an outperform vote while only 46.08% of users gave Fulton Financial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Simmons First National	Outperform Votes 269 48.47%	Underperform Votes 286 51.53%
Fulton Financial	Outperform Votes 270 46.08%	Underperform Votes 316 53.92%

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, SFNC or FULT?

Fulton Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Simmons First National. Fulton Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Simmons First National, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Simmons First National	$1.37B	1.62	$175.06M	$1.33	13.31
Fulton Financial	$1.50B	1.83	$284.28M	$1.61	10.54

Does the media favor SFNC or FULT?

In the previous week, Fulton Financial had 20 more articles in the media than Simmons First National. MarketBeat recorded 37 mentions for Fulton Financial and 17 mentions for Simmons First National. Fulton Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.54 beat Simmons First National's score of 0.29 indicating that Simmons First National is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Simmons First National	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Fulton Financial	5 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	15 Neutral mention(s)	6 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts prefer SFNC or FULT?

Simmons First National presently has a consensus price target of $21.00, suggesting a potential upside of 18.64%. Fulton Financial has a consensus price target of $17.60, suggesting a potential upside of 3.71%. Given Fulton Financial's higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Simmons First National is more favorable than Fulton Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Simmons First National	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Fulton Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20

Which has more volatility and risk, SFNC or FULT?

Simmons First National has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fulton Financial has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Fulton Financial beats Simmons First National on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.