H.B. Fuller (FUL) Competitors

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) and Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, media sentiment, profitability, earnings, risk and community ranking.

Which has more volatility & risk, FUL or ALB?

H.B. Fuller has a beta of 1.27, suggesting that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Albemarle has a beta of 1.59, suggesting that its share price is 59% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is FUL or ALB a better dividend stock?

H.B. Fuller pays an annual dividend of $0.89 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Albemarle pays an annual dividend of $1.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. H.B. Fuller pays out 44.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Albemarle pays out -14.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. H.B. Fuller has raised its dividend for 56 consecutive years and Albemarle has raised its dividend for 30 consecutive years. Albemarle is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media favor FUL or ALB?

In the previous week, Albemarle had 7 more articles in the media than H.B. Fuller. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Albemarle and 5 mentions for H.B. Fuller. H.B. Fuller's average media sentiment score of 0.70 beat Albemarle's score of 0.13 indicating that H.B. Fuller is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
H.B. Fuller	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Albemarle	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer FUL or ALB?

Albemarle received 461 more outperform votes than H.B. Fuller when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 62.04% of users gave Albemarle an outperform vote while only 55.32% of users gave H.B. Fuller an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
H.B. Fuller	Outperform Votes 317 55.32%	Underperform Votes 256 44.68%
Albemarle	Outperform Votes 778 62.04%	Underperform Votes 476 37.96%

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, FUL or ALB?

H.B. Fuller has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Albemarle. Albemarle is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than H.B. Fuller, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
H.B. Fuller	$3.55B	0.82	$130.26M	$2.00	26.79
Albemarle	$5.38B	1.18	-$1.18B	-$11.20	-4.82

Do analysts prefer FUL or ALB?

H.B. Fuller presently has a consensus target price of $63.33, indicating a potential upside of 18.21%. Albemarle has a consensus target price of $96.05, indicating a potential upside of 77.87%. Given Albemarle's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Albemarle is more favorable than H.B. Fuller.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
H.B. Fuller	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Albemarle	2 Sell rating(s)	13 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.15

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in FUL or ALB?

95.9% of H.B. Fuller shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.9% of Albemarle shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of H.B. Fuller shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Albemarle shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is FUL or ALB more profitable?

H.B. Fuller has a net margin of 3.65% compared to Albemarle's net margin of -21.93%. H.B. Fuller's return on equity of 12.01% beat Albemarle's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
H.B. Fuller	3.65%	12.01%	4.45%
Albemarle	-21.93%	-1.72%	-0.84%

Summary

Albemarle beats H.B. Fuller on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.