H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $64.14, but opened at $62.69. H.B. Fuller shares last traded at $62.04, with a volume of 62,875 shares traded.

The specialty chemicals company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.08). H.B. Fuller had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 5.15%. The firm had revenue of $923.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $916.84 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. H.B. Fuller’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on H.B. Fuller from $78.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of H.B. Fuller from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Vertical Research downgraded shares of H.B. Fuller from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.25.

Institutional Trading of H.B. Fuller

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of H.B. Fuller by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,258,752 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $99,939,000 after acquiring an additional 18,734 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its position in H.B. Fuller by 79.8% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 730,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $57,952,000 after purchasing an additional 324,056 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in H.B. Fuller by 9.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 290,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $22,319,000 after purchasing an additional 26,239 shares during the period. Finally, S&CO Inc. increased its stake in shares of H.B. Fuller by 0.3% in the third quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 267,192 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $21,209,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. 95.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

H.B. Fuller Trading Down 3.6 %

The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $71.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.99.

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.