H.B. Fuller (FUL) Competitors

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) and Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, media sentiment, community ranking, dividends, risk and profitability.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer FUL or ALB?

Albemarle received 459 more outperform votes than H.B. Fuller when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 61.99% of users gave Albemarle an outperform vote while only 55.48% of users gave H.B. Fuller an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
H.B. Fuller	Outperform Votes 319 55.48%	Underperform Votes 256 44.52%
Albemarle	Outperform Votes 778 61.99%	Underperform Votes 477 38.01%

Which has more volatility & risk, FUL or ALB?

H.B. Fuller has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Albemarle has a beta of 1.59, indicating that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher earnings & valuation, FUL or ALB?

H.B. Fuller has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Albemarle. Albemarle is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than H.B. Fuller, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
H.B. Fuller	$3.55B	0.83	$130.26M	$2.00	27.01
Albemarle	$5.38B	1.29	-$1.18B	-$11.20	-5.27

Is FUL or ALB a better dividend stock?

H.B. Fuller pays an annual dividend of $0.94 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Albemarle pays an annual dividend of $1.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. H.B. Fuller pays out 47.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Albemarle pays out -14.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. H.B. Fuller has raised its dividend for 57 consecutive years and Albemarle has raised its dividend for 30 consecutive years. Albemarle is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in FUL or ALB?

95.9% of H.B. Fuller shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.9% of Albemarle shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of H.B. Fuller shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Albemarle shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to FUL or ALB?

In the previous week, Albemarle had 7 more articles in the media than H.B. Fuller. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Albemarle and 3 mentions for H.B. Fuller. Albemarle's average media sentiment score of 0.45 beat H.B. Fuller's score of 0.41 indicating that Albemarle is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
H.B. Fuller	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Albemarle	2 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts rate FUL or ALB?

H.B. Fuller presently has a consensus target price of $62.50, suggesting a potential upside of 15.72%. Albemarle has a consensus target price of $94.57, suggesting a potential upside of 60.13%. Given Albemarle's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Albemarle is more favorable than H.B. Fuller.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
H.B. Fuller	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.43
Albemarle	2 Sell rating(s)	14 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.14

Is FUL or ALB more profitable?

H.B. Fuller has a net margin of 3.65% compared to Albemarle's net margin of -21.93%. H.B. Fuller's return on equity of 12.01% beat Albemarle's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
H.B. Fuller	3.65%	12.01%	4.45%
Albemarle	-21.93%	-1.72%	-0.84%

Summary

H.B. Fuller and Albemarle tied by winning 11 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.