H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 672,900 shares, an increase of 10.2% from the May 31st total of 610,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 306,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FUL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Vertical Research initiated coverage on shares of H.B. Fuller in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $88.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of H.B. Fuller from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.75.

H.B. Fuller Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE FUL traded down $0.37 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $76.21. 183,101 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 314,326. The company has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $78.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. H.B. Fuller has a twelve month low of $64.64 and a twelve month high of $84.31.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $917.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $914.22 million. H.B. Fuller had a net margin of 4.67% and a return on equity of 13.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that H.B. Fuller will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H.B. Fuller Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 25th were issued a dividend of $0.222 per share. This represents a $0.89 dividend on an annualized basis 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 was Wednesday, April 24th. H.B. Fuller’s dividend payout ratio is 30.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other H.B. Fuller news, EVP Zhiwei Cai sold 4,645 shares of H.B. Fuller stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $2,304,324.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Zhiwei Cai sold 4,645 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,304,324.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Nathan D. Weaver sold 7,292 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.64, for a total transaction of $573,442.88. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $377,707.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 34,253 shares of company stock worth $2,669,188. Insiders own 1.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H.B. Fuller

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in H.B. Fuller by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 82,273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,645,000 after buying an additional 13,328 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its position in shares of H.B. Fuller by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 11,353 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Partners Capital Investment Group LLP bought a new position in shares of H.B. Fuller during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,598,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted 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 valued at $27,282,000 after purchasing an additional 322,655 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Security National Bank of SO Dak bought a new position in shares of H.B. Fuller during the 4th quarter valued at about $236,000. Institutional investors 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.