H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) Sets New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $55.38 and last traded at $55.63, with a volume of 369290 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $56.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on FUL shares. Vertical Research lowered H.B. Fuller from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price 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. Citigroup reduced their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of H.B. Fuller from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.60.

H.B. Fuller Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $62.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.22. 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 company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.42.

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $923.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $916.84 million. H.B. Fuller had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.32 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that H.B. Fuller will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H.B. Fuller Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.2225 dividend. This represents a $0.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. H.B. Fuller’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.53%.

Institutional Trading of H.B. Fuller

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in H.B. Fuller by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 33,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,231,000 after buying an additional 1,472 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $8,630,000 after acquiring an additional 15,100 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of H.B. Fuller in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $465,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in H.B. Fuller in the 4th quarter worth approximately $783,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.93% of the company’s stock.

H.B. Fuller Company Profile

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.