H. B. Fuller Company (NYSE:FUL) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• H. B. Fuller has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from analysts, with seven brokerages involved; target prices vary, with the average being $67.25.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $1.18, surpassing estimates, but revenue decreased by 2.1% year-over-year.
• H. B. Fuller announced a quarterly dividend of $0.235 per share, representing a yield of 1.7%, payable on August 14th.

H. B. Fuller Company (NYSE:FUL - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $67.25.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on H. B. Fuller from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Baird R W upgraded H. B. Fuller from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on H. B. Fuller from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th.

H. B. Fuller Stock Performance

Shares of H. B. Fuller stock opened at $56.34 on Tuesday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $58.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.11. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 30.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. H. B. Fuller has a 52 week low of $47.56 and a 52 week high of $85.89.

H. B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $898.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $894.87 million. H. B. Fuller had a return on equity of 11.50% and a net margin of 2.92%. H. B. Fuller's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that H. B. Fuller will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

H. B. Fuller Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. H. B. Fuller's dividend payout ratio is 50.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at H. B. Fuller

In related news, VP Robert J. Martsching sold 9,546 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.30, for a total transaction of $613,807.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 14,980 shares in the company, valued at $963,214. This represents a 38.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H. B. Fuller

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of H. B. Fuller during the 1st quarter worth $990,000. Cooke & Bieler LP purchased a new stake in shares of H. B. Fuller during the 1st quarter worth $36,830,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of H. B. Fuller by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 127,896 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $8,630,000 after purchasing an additional 15,100 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of H. B. Fuller by 731.1% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of H. B. Fuller by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 33,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472 shares during the last quarter. 95.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

H. B. Fuller Company Profile

H.B. Fuller Company, together with its subsidiaries, formulates, manufactures, and markets adhesives, sealants, coatings, polymers, tapes, encapsulants, additives, and other specialty chemical products. It operates through three segments: Hygiene, Health and Consumable Adhesives; Engineering Adhesives; and Construction Adhesives.

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