H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the five brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $86.20.

FUL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of H.B. Fuller from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Vertical Research initiated coverage on shares of H.B. Fuller in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company.

H.B. Fuller Stock Performance

Shares of H.B. Fuller stock opened at $76.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.76, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $78.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.49. H.B. Fuller has a 52 week low of $63.47 and a 52 week high of $84.31.

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 27th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $810.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $823.04 million. H.B. Fuller had a net margin of 4.39% and a return on equity of 12.88%. H.B. Fuller’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that H.B. Fuller will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

H.B. Fuller Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th were paid a dividend of $0.222 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 24th. This is a positive change from H.B. Fuller’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. H.B. Fuller’s dividend payout ratio is 32.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP James J. East sold 22,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.27, for a total value of $1,746,673.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP James J. East sold 22,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.27, for a total value of $1,746,673.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Zhiwei Cai sold 4,645 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.15, for a total value of $349,071.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 30,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,304,324.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,253 shares of company stock worth $2,669,188 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H.B. Fuller

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FUL. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in H.B. Fuller in the first quarter worth $79,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in H.B. Fuller in the fourth quarter valued at $134,000. Security National Bank of SO Dak acquired a new stake in H.B. Fuller in the fourth quarter valued at $236,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in H.B. Fuller by 90.2% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 9,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $666,000 after purchasing an additional 4,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in H.B. Fuller in the fourth quarter valued at $738,000. Hedge funds and other 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.