Cooke & Bieler LP Grows Position in H. B. Fuller Company $FUL

Key Points

• Cooke & Bieler LP increased its stake in H. B. Fuller by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, adding 196,644 shares to bring its total to 1,677,674 shares worth about $99.8 million.
• H. B. Fuller CEO Celeste Beeks Mastin bought 5,170 shares at $57.08 each, boosting her direct ownership by 147.71% to 8,670 shares.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.57, topping estimates, and also raised its dividend to $0.245 per share quarterly for a 1.7% annual yield.

Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its position in H. B. Fuller Company (NYSE:FUL - Free Report) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,677,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 196,644 shares during the quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP owned 3.09% of H. B. Fuller worth $99,754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of H. B. Fuller by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 50,486 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,037,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Investment Management LP raised its stake in H. B. Fuller by 3.9% in the third quarter. Glenmede Investment Management LP now owns 4,809 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in H. B. Fuller by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 578 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of H. B. Fuller by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 11,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $692,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in shares of H. B. Fuller by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 10,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Celeste Beeks Mastin acquired 5,170 shares of H. B. Fuller stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $57.08 per share, for a total transaction of $295,103.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $494,883.60. This trade represents a 147.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.83% of the company's stock.

H. B. Fuller Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:FUL opened at $57.72 on Tuesday. H. B. Fuller Company has a 1-year low of $48.71 and a 1-year high of $68.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.45.

H. B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $770.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $787.77 million. H. B. Fuller had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 11.84%. H. B. Fuller's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that H. B. Fuller Company will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

H. B. Fuller Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $0.245 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $0.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from H. B. Fuller's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. H. B. Fuller's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FUL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Vertical Research raised H. B. Fuller from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of H. B. Fuller from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of H. B. Fuller from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of H. B. Fuller from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, H. B. Fuller presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $65.50.

H. B. Fuller Company Profile

H. B. Fuller Company, founded in 1887 and headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, is a global adhesives and specialty chemical solutions provider serving a wide array of industries. The company develops, manufactures and markets adhesive technologies, sealants, polymers and related chemical products designed to enhance product performance, sustainability and manufacturing efficiency.

Fuller's product portfolio spans multiple market segments, including packaging and converting, general industrial assembly, electronics, transportation, hygiene and construction.

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