Insider Buying: H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) CEO Buys 3,500 Shares of Stock

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL - Get Free Report) CEO Celeste Beeks Mastin acquired 3,500 shares of H.B. Fuller stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $56.66 per share, for a total transaction of $198,310.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $198,310. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

H.B. Fuller Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE:FUL traded down $1.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $52.66. 635,755 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 363,695. H.B. Fuller has a 1 year low of $51.16 and a 1 year high of $87.67. 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's 50-day simple moving average is $57.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.82. The firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.27.

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $788.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.55 million. H.B. Fuller had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 3.65%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that H.B. Fuller will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

H.B. Fuller Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.2225 dividend. This represents a $0.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. H.B. Fuller's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FUL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of H.B. Fuller from $78.00 to $68.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of H.B. Fuller from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of H.B. Fuller from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on H.B. Fuller from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Vertical Research cut H.B. Fuller from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H.B. Fuller

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of H.B. Fuller by 128.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 899 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in H.B. Fuller by 731.1% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in H.B. Fuller in the 4th quarter valued at about $266,000. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its position in H.B. Fuller by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 13,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. 95.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.