H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $62.50.

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

H.B. Fuller Stock Performance

Shares of FUL traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $54.22. 216,120 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 382,462. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $54.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.87. H.B. Fuller has a 1 year low of $47.56 and a 1 year high of $87.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.81.

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

H.B. Fuller Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. This is a boost from H.B. Fuller's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. H.B. Fuller's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at H.B. Fuller

In other H.B. Fuller news, CEO Celeste Beeks Mastin purchased 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $198,310. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.99% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H.B. Fuller

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted 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 in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of H.B. Fuller by 731.1% during the fourth 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. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of H.B. Fuller in the fourth quarter worth $266,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of H.B. Fuller by 25.4% in the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 6,538 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 1,323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of H.B. Fuller during the fourth quarter worth $465,000. Institutional investors 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.