H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.50.

A number of analysts have commented on FUL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on H.B. Fuller from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Robert W. Baird upgraded H.B. Fuller from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Baird R W upgraded H.B. Fuller from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut H.B. Fuller from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th.

H.B. Fuller Stock Up 3.4%

H.B. Fuller stock traded up $1.82 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $56.04. The company had a trading volume of 261,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 382,384. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $54.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.43. H.B. Fuller has a 12 month low of $47.56 and a 12 month high of $87.67. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 24.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.13.

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $788.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.55 million. H.B. Fuller had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 3.65%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that H.B. Fuller will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H.B. Fuller Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th were given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. This is a positive change from H.B. Fuller's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 29th. H.B. Fuller's payout ratio is presently 47.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Celeste Beeks Mastin purchased 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $56.66 per share, for a total transaction of $198,310.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 3,500 shares in the company, valued at $198,310. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H.B. Fuller

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in H.B. Fuller by 128.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 899 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in H.B. Fuller in the 4th quarter worth about $266,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in H.B. Fuller in the 4th quarter worth about $465,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.93% of the company's stock.

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.