H. B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

H. B. Fuller Company (NYSE:FULGet Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $55.96, but opened at $60.58. H. B. Fuller shares last traded at $61.09, with a volume of 179,800 shares.

The specialty chemicals company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.08. H. B. Fuller had a return on equity of 11.59% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $898.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $894.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis.

H. B. Fuller Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. This is an increase from H. B. Fuller’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 29th. H. B. Fuller’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on H. B. Fuller from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded H. B. Fuller from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Baird R W raised H. B. Fuller from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on H. B. Fuller from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.25.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on H. B. Fuller

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Celeste Beeks Mastin acquired 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $56.66 per share, for a total transaction of $198,310.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 3,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,310. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in H. B. Fuller during the 1st quarter valued at about $101,000. Partners Capital Investment Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of H. B. Fuller by 90.3% during the 1st quarter. Partners Capital Investment Group LLP now owns 64,901 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,642,000 after acquiring an additional 30,805 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its holdings in shares of H. B. Fuller by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 82,124 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,609,000 after acquiring an additional 2,857 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of H. B. Fuller by 612.4% during the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 28,083 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,576,000 after acquiring an additional 24,141 shares during the period. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of H. B. Fuller by 25.4% during the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 6,538 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.93% of the company’s stock.

H. B. Fuller Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.97. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $55.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.44, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.12.

About H. B. Fuller

(Get Free Report)

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.

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