Upcoming AWS Coverage on Valley National Bancorp Post-Earnings Results

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / January 24, 2017 / Active Wall St. announces its post-earnings coverage on Fulton Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: FULT). The Company reported its financial results for the fourth quarter fiscal 2016 (Q4 FY16) and full year 2016 (FY16) on January 17, 2017. Fulton Financial's diluted earnings per share rose 9.1% y-o-y, meeting Wall Street's estimates. Register with us now for your free membership at:

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One of Fulton Financial's competitors within the Regional - Northeast Banks space, Valley National Bancorp (NYSE: VLY), announced on December 27, 2016, that it will release its fourth quarter 2016 earnings before the market opens on Wednesday, January 25, 2017. AWS will be initiating a research report on Valley National in the coming days.

Today, AWS is promoting its earnings coverage on FULT; touching on VLY. Get our free coverage by signing up to:

http://www.activewallst.com/registration-3/?symbol=FULT

http://www.activewallst.com/registration-3/?symbol=VLY

Earnings Reviewed

During Q4 FY16, the Company's interest income rose 3.7% to $153.01 million, while interest expense was up by 5.1% y-o-y to $20.78 million. Moreover, net interest income grew 3.5% y-o-y in Q4 FY16 to $132.24 million from $127.80 million in Q4 FY15. The total non-interest income also increased 15.1% y-o-y to $52.76 million in Q4 FY16 from $45.84 million in the year ago same quarter.

The Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based Company reported net income of $42.15 million, or $0.24 per diluted share, in Q4 FY16, compared to $38.54 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, in Q4 FY15. Wall Street had also expected net income of $0.24 per diluted share.

In full year FY16, Fulton Financial's interest income increased 3.3% to $603.10 million; however, interest expenses were down by 1.8% y-o-y to $82.33 million. Meanwhile, net interest income for FY16 came in at $520.77 million, which was 4.2% higher than $499.99 million reported in the year ago comparable period. The Company's net income also rose during FY16 to $161.63 million, or $0.93 per diluted share, from $149.50 million, or $0.85 per diluted share in the previous year.

Earnings Metrics

During the reported quarter, the Company's return on average assets was 0.89% versus 0.86% in the prior year's comparable quarter. The return on average shareholders' equity stood at 7.86% in Q4 FY16, which came in above 7.51% reported in the year ago comparable period. The tangible average shareholders' equity came in at 10.47% in Q4 FY16 compared to 10.16% in Q4 FY15. Additionally, the Company efficiency ratio was 67.60% in Q4 FY16 compared to 66.63% in Q4 FY15.

Net interest margin fell four six basis points in the reported quarter to 3.15% from 3.19% in Q4 FY15. Total average interest-earning assets rose to $17.41 billion in Q4 FY16 from $16.51 billion in the previous year's corresponding quarter. Furthermore, the Company's yield on total average interest-earning assets 3.62% for Q4 FY16 compared to 3.67% in the prior year's same quarter.

In the reported quarter, annualized net recoveries were 0.03% of total average loans compared to 0.02% in the quarter ended December 31, 2015. Furthermore, allowance for credit losses as a percentage of non-performing loans was 130.2% as on December 31, 2016, compared to 118.4% as on December 31, 2015.

Balance Sheet Analyzed

Fulton Financial's total loans, net of unearned income balance improved to $14.70 billion during quarter ended December 31, 2016, from $13.84 billion in Q4 FY15. Total deposits were $15.01 billion as on December 31, 2016, which was 6.2% higher than $14.13 billion recorded as on December 31, 2015.

The Company had non-performing assets standing at $144.45 million, or 0.76% of total asset in Q4 FY16, compared to $155.91 million, or 0.87% of total asset in the year ago quarter. However, provision for credit losses increased to $5.00 million in Q4 FY16 from $2.75 million in Q4 FY15.

Share Repurchase

In full FY16, the Company repurchased $19 million of common stock and has approximately $31 million left in its current share repurchase plan authorization that was recently extended through December 31, 2017.

Stock Performance

On Monday, the stock closed the trading session at $18.05, slightly falling 0.28% from its previous closing price of $18.10. A total volume of 723.82 thousand shares have exchanged hands. Fulton Financial's stock price advanced 22.74% in the last three months, 33.32% in the past six months, and 51.48% in the previous twelve months. The Company's shares are trading at a PE ratio of 19.47 and have a dividend yield of 2.22%.

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SOURCE: Active Wall Street