H. B. Fuller Company (NYSE:FUL) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• H. B. Fuller has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from seven analysts, with an average 12-month price target of $63.80.
• Recent analyst actions were mixed but generally constructive, including a Citigroup upgrade to buy with a raised target to $70, while other firms such as JPMorgan, UBS, and RBC set targets around $58.
• The company reported Q1 earnings of $0.57 per share, slightly beating estimates, and also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.245 per share, implying a 1.5% yield.

H. B. Fuller Company (NYSE:FUL - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $63.80.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on FUL shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on H. B. Fuller from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of H. B. Fuller from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group set a $58.00 price target on shares of H. B. Fuller in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded H. B. Fuller from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, March 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $58.00 target price on H. B. Fuller in a report on Wednesday.

Insider Activity

In other H. B. Fuller news, CEO Celeste Beeks Mastin bought 5,170 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $57.08 per share, with a total value of $295,103.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,670 shares in the company, valued at $494,883.60. This trade represents a 147.71% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in H. B. Fuller in the 4th quarter worth about $44,203,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in H. B. Fuller by 2,694.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 675,765 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $41,681,000 after purchasing an additional 651,585 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in H. B. Fuller by 200.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 820,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $48,661,000 after purchasing an additional 548,017 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in H. B. Fuller by 1,379.5% in the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 383,955 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $22,830,000 after purchasing an additional 358,003 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in H. B. Fuller by 52.3% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 820,255 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $48,772,000 after purchasing an additional 281,707 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.93% of the company's stock.

H. B. Fuller Stock Up 0.4%

FUL opened at $64.33 on Monday. H. B. Fuller has a 1-year low of $48.71 and a 1-year high of $68.63. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $60.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.96.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.01. H. B. Fuller had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 4.62%.The firm had revenue of $770.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $787.77 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.54 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that H. B. Fuller will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

H. B. Fuller Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.245 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $0.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is a boost from H. B. Fuller's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. H. B. Fuller's payout ratio is 32.34%.

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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