H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) Sets New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $52.15 and last traded at $51.69, with a volume of 41698 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $54.34.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on FUL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of H.B. Fuller from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of H.B. Fuller from $78.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Vertical Research downgraded shares of H.B. Fuller from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of H.B. Fuller from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered H.B. Fuller from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, H.B. Fuller presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.33.

H.B. Fuller Stock Down 3.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $57.85 and a 200-day moving average of $68.11.

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $788.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.55 million. H.B. Fuller had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that H.B. Fuller will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

H.B. Fuller Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.2225 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. H.B. Fuller’s payout ratio is presently 44.50%.

Insider Activity at H.B. Fuller

In other news, CEO Celeste Beeks Mastin bought 3,500 shares of H.B. Fuller stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $56.66 per share, for a total transaction of $198,310.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 3,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,310. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H.B. Fuller

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of H.B. Fuller by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 33,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,231,000 after buying an additional 1,472 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of H.B. Fuller by 731.1% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its position in H.B. Fuller by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 127,896 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $8,630,000 after acquiring an additional 15,100 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of H.B. Fuller during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $465,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of H.B. Fuller in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $783,000. 95.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.