H. B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of H. B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

FUL has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of H. B. Fuller in a report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of H. B. Fuller from $76.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. UBS Group set a $66.00 target price on H. B. Fuller in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of H. B. Fuller in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, H. B. Fuller currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.50.

H. B. Fuller Trading Up 5.7%

NYSE:FUL opened at $52.09 on Friday. H. B. Fuller has a 52-week low of $47.56 and a 52-week high of $68.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.21. The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.07.

H. B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.04. H. B. Fuller had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 12.21%. The firm had revenue of $894.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $901.34 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. H. B. Fuller’s payout ratio is 31.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H. B. Fuller

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in H. B. Fuller during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,203,000. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in H. B. Fuller by 94.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,481,030 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $87,795,000 after acquiring an additional 721,100 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of H. B. Fuller by 200.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 820,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,661,000 after purchasing an additional 548,017 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of H. B. Fuller by 1,379.5% during the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 383,955 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $22,830,000 after purchasing an additional 358,003 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of H. B. Fuller by 52.3% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 820,255 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,772,000 after purchasing an additional 281,707 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.93% of the company’s stock.

About H. B. Fuller

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.