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

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,290,000 shares, a drop of 5.1% from the January 15th total of 1,360,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 365,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

H.B. Fuller Price Performance

Shares of H.B. Fuller stock traded down $1.92 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $57.22. 451,272 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 465,767. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.42. H.B. Fuller has a 52 week low of $56.97 and a 52 week high of $87.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.39.

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $923.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $916.84 million. H.B. Fuller had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 3.65%. H.B. Fuller's quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.32 EPS. Research analysts forecast that H.B. Fuller will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

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H.B. Fuller Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.2225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $0.89 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. H.B. Fuller's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FUL has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on H.B. Fuller from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on 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 reduced their price objective on H.B. Fuller from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Vertical Research downgraded H.B. Fuller from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, H.B. Fuller has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $75.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On H.B. Fuller

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in H.B. Fuller by 128.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 899 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in H.B. Fuller by 731.1% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in H.B. Fuller in the 4th quarter valued at $266,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in H.B. Fuller in the 4th quarter valued at $465,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in H.B. Fuller in the 4th quarter valued at $783,000. 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.