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

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $54.32, but opened at $57.57. H.B. Fuller shares last traded at $54.82, with a volume of 219,528 shares trading hands.

The specialty chemicals company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.05. H.B. Fuller had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 3.65%. The business had revenue of $788.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

H.B. Fuller Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a $0.2225 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. H.B. Fuller’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FUL has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of H.B. Fuller from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of H.B. Fuller from $78.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered 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 report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Vertical Research cut shares of H.B. Fuller from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of H.B. Fuller from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H.B. Fuller

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FUL. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of H.B. Fuller by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,258,752 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $99,939,000 after purchasing an additional 18,734 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in H.B. Fuller by 79.8% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 730,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $57,952,000 after acquiring an additional 324,056 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of H.B. Fuller by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 554,947 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,448,000 after acquiring an additional 81,558 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of H.B. Fuller by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 127,896 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,630,000 after acquiring an additional 15,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of H.B. Fuller by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 33,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,231,000 after acquiring an additional 1,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.93% of the company’s stock.

H.B. Fuller Stock Up 0.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.81. The company has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 23.43, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $58.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.00.

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.