H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Tuesday.

Separately, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of H.B. Fuller from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $92.75.

H.B. Fuller Trading Up 1.7 %

FUL opened at $85.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.46. H.B. Fuller has a fifty-two week low of $64.64 and a fifty-two week high of $86.92.

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $917.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $914.22 million. H.B. Fuller had a net margin of 4.67% and a return on equity of 13.33%. H.B. Fuller’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that H.B. Fuller will post 4.4 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 Wednesday, August 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.2225 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $0.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. This is a boost from H.B. Fuller’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. H.B. Fuller’s payout ratio is currently 30.38%.

Insider Activity at H.B. Fuller

In other news, 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 owns 30,663 shares in the company, valued at $2,304,324.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Heather Campe sold 23,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.66, for a total value of $1,958,711.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,742 shares in the company, valued at $1,631,873.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction of $349,071.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 30,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,304,324.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in H.B. Fuller during the first quarter worth $79,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new stake in H.B. Fuller during the fourth quarter worth $134,000. Security National Bank of SO Dak bought a new stake in H.B. Fuller during the fourth quarter worth $236,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in H.B. Fuller during the fourth quarter worth $738,000. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new stake in H.B. Fuller during the first quarter worth $773,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.93% of the company’s stock.

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.