H. B. Fuller Company $FUL Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of H. B. Fuller Company (NYSE:FUL) by 22.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 314,690 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 56,752 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in H. B. Fuller were worth $19,410,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FUL. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in H. B. Fuller during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,644,000. Congruence Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of H. B. Fuller in the fourth quarter valued at about $10,048,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of H. B. Fuller by 43.4% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 630,194 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,471,000 after purchasing an additional 190,750 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of H. B. Fuller in the fourth quarter worth about $44,203,000. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in shares of H. B. Fuller during the fourth quarter worth about $2,283,000. 95.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

H. B. Fuller Stock Performance

Shares of FUL stock opened at $56.20 on Thursday. H. B. Fuller Company has a 52-week low of $48.71 and a 52-week high of $68.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.92.

H. B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $950.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $924.83 million. H. B. Fuller had a return on equity of 12.18% and a net margin of 5.29%.H. B. Fuller’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that H. B. Fuller Company will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

H. B. Fuller Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 30th will be given a $0.245 dividend. This represents a $0.98 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 30th. H. B. Fuller’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on FUL. Wall Street Zen upgraded H. B. Fuller from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of H. B. Fuller from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of H. B. Fuller from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of H. B. Fuller in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of H. B. Fuller from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.86.

H. B. Fuller Profile

H. B. Fuller Company, founded in 1887 and headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, is a global adhesives and specialty chemical solutions provider serving a wide array of industries. The company develops, manufactures and markets adhesive technologies, sealants, polymers and related chemical products designed to enhance product performance, sustainability and manufacturing efficiency.

Fuller’s product portfolio spans multiple market segments, including packaging and converting, general industrial assembly, electronics, transportation, hygiene and construction.