H. B. Fuller Company (NYSE:FUL) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

Shares of H. B. Fuller Company (NYSE:FUL) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.88.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FUL. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of H. B. Fuller from $75.00 to $63.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of H. B. Fuller from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Zacks Research lowered shares of H. B. Fuller from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of H. B. Fuller from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of H. B. Fuller from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th.

H. B. Fuller Price Performance

FUL stock opened at $51.52 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.82. H. B. Fuller has a 1 year low of $46.70 and a 1 year high of $68.63. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.23.

H. B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $938.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $945.59 million. H. B. Fuller had a return on equity of 12.65% and a net margin of 5.56%. H. B. Fuller’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that H. B. Fuller will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H. B. Fuller Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th were given a $0.2450 dividend. This represents a $0.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 15th. H. B. Fuller’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.30%.

Insider Activity at H. B. Fuller

In other H. B. Fuller news, Director Michael J. Happe purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $49.62 per share, for a total transaction of $99,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 3,343 shares in the company, valued at $165,879.66. The trade was a 148.92% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Srilata Zaheer purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $49.06 per share, for a total transaction of $98,120.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 3,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,154.76. This represents a 148.59% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 13,061 shares of company stock valued at $646,340. 1.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H. B. Fuller

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FUL. S&CO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of H. B. Fuller in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $14,093,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of H. B. Fuller by 36.3% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 513,163 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,652,000 after buying an additional 136,666 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in H. B. Fuller by 2,694.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 675,765 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $41,681,000 after acquiring an additional 651,585 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in H. B. Fuller by 22.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 314,690 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $19,410,000 after acquiring an additional 56,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in H. B. Fuller during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,611,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.93% of the company’s stock.

H. B. Fuller Company Profile

H.B. Fuller Company (NYSE:FUL) develops and manufactures specialty adhesives, sealants and other engineered bonding solutions. Its products are used to assemble, protect, package and improve the performance of products across a wide range of industries, including construction, transportation, electronics, consumer goods, packaging and hygiene.

The company offers technologies such as hot-melt, water-based, reactive and pressure-sensitive adhesives, as well as sealants, coatings and related materials.