H. B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• H. B. Fuller stock hit a new 52-week high after Wall Street Zen upgraded it from buy to strong-buy, adding to a series of bullish analyst calls. The average analyst rating is now Moderate Buy with an average price target of $66.33.
• The company also delivered a solid quarterly earnings report, posting EPS of $1.41 versus estimates of $1.37 and revenue of $950.27 million, above expectations. Revenue rose 5.8% year over year.
• H. B. Fuller increased its quarterly dividend to $0.245 per share from $0.23, implying an annualized yield of about 1.6%. CEO Celeste Beeks Mastin also bought 5,170 shares, signaling insider confidence.

H. B. Fuller Company (NYSE:FUL - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $70.00 and last traded at $62.0540, with a volume of 447 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $63.25.

FUL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded H. B. Fuller from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial set a $67.00 target price on H. B. Fuller in a research note on Friday. Citigroup raised their price target on H. B. Fuller from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of H. B. Fuller from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $67.00 price objective on shares of H. B. Fuller in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.33.

Insider Activity at H. B. Fuller

In other news, CEO Celeste Beeks Mastin bought 5,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $57.08 per share, with a total value of $295,103.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 8,670 shares in the company, valued at $494,883.60. The trade was a 147.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of H. B. Fuller

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in H. B. Fuller by 85.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA bought a new stake in shares of H. B. Fuller during the first quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of H. B. Fuller by 36.3% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 513,163 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $31,652,000 after buying an additional 136,666 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of H. B. Fuller by 23.1% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 12,024 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $742,000 after buying an additional 2,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of H. B. Fuller by 19.8% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 61,623 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,801,000 after acquiring an additional 10,196 shares during the last quarter. 95.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

H. B. Fuller Trading Down 1.9%

The stock has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.96. The stock's 50-day moving average is $61.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

H. B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $950.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $924.83 million. H. B. Fuller had a net margin of 5.29% and a return on equity of 12.18%. H. B. Fuller's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that H. B. Fuller Company will post 4.79 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.245 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This is a positive change from H. B. Fuller's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. H. B. Fuller's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.34%.

About H. B. Fuller

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.