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

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $86.20.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on FUL shares. Vertical Research started coverage on H.B. Fuller in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $88.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on H.B. Fuller from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on H.B. Fuller from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded H.B. Fuller from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th.

Insider Transactions at H.B. Fuller

In other news, VP Heather Campe sold 3,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.83, for a total transaction of $265,063.50. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,316.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Heather Campe sold 3,450 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.83, for a total transaction of $265,063.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 19,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,516,316.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP James J. East sold 22,316 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.27, for a total value of $1,746,673.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,301 shares of company stock valued at $4,673,473 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H.B. Fuller

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in H.B. Fuller by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 999,922 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $68,445,000 after acquiring an additional 55,005 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of H.B. Fuller by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 425,162 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,170,000 after buying an additional 85,716 shares in the last quarter. Luminus Management LLC grew its position in shares of H.B. Fuller by 123.9% during the 3rd quarter. Luminus Management LLC now owns 410,351 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,154,000 after buying an additional 227,055 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its position in shares of H.B. Fuller by 2,588.7% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 335,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,282,000 after buying an additional 322,655 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of H.B. Fuller by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 82,273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,645,000 after buying an additional 13,328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.93% of the company’s stock.

H.B. Fuller Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FUL opened at $76.02 on Friday. H.B. Fuller has a fifty-two week low of $62.57 and a fifty-two week high of $84.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.99. The firm has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.52.

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.03. H.B. Fuller had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 4.39%. The business had revenue of $810.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $823.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. H.B. Fuller’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that H.B. Fuller will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

H.B. Fuller Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.222 per share. This represents a $0.89 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. This is a boost from H.B. Fuller’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. H.B. Fuller’s dividend payout ratio is 32.36%.

About H.B. Fuller

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.