H. B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

H. B. Fuller Company (NYSE:FUL - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $55.96, but opened at $60.58. H. B. Fuller shares last traded at $61.09, with a volume of 179,800 shares trading hands.

The specialty chemicals company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.08. H. B. Fuller had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 3.17%. The business had revenue of $898.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $894.87 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.12 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis.

H. B. Fuller Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. This is an increase from H. B. Fuller's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. H. B. Fuller's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FUL. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded H. B. Fuller from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Baird R W raised shares of H. B. Fuller from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird raised H. B. Fuller from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of H. B. Fuller from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other H. B. Fuller news, CEO Celeste Beeks Mastin purchased 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $56.66 per share, with a total value of $198,310.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 3,500 shares in the company, valued at $198,310. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H. B. Fuller

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of H. B. Fuller by 128.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 899 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in H. B. Fuller by 731.1% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in H. B. Fuller during the 1st quarter valued at $101,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in H. B. Fuller during the 4th quarter worth $266,000. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its stake in shares of H. B. Fuller by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 6,538 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.93% of the company's stock.

H. B. Fuller Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 30.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.12. The company's fifty day moving average price is $55.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

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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