Forensic Analysis · Materials / Mining & Chemicals · as of Aug 10, 2026
Fuller H B Co (FUL)
A forensic read on Fuller H B Co built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
C · Mixed — selective
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
3.3
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
5
Forensic signals
17.6
P / E (ttm)
7.6%
ROE
$3.3B
Market cap
1.66%
Dividend yield
-2.7%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (red flags, auditor quality, say on pay, board independence). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Fuller H B Co earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 3.3, placing it in the Safe zone. 5 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
5.5%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 5.5% in the latest fiscal year and steady — well below its ~8% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
$32M
FY2024–FY2024
Goodwill impairments.Took $32M of goodwill writedowns across 1 year (FY2024 ($32M)) — about 25% of net income over the span. A large writedown means an acquisition turned out worth far less than was paid — a real mark against M&A discipline.
72d
FY2024→FY2025
Inventory days.Days inventory outstanding moved from 66 to 72 FY2024→FY2025 (against cost of goods sold; inventory +1% vs -5% in cost of sales). Inventory is building a little faster than sales — watch for markdowns.
+0.1%/yr
FY2022–FY2025
Share count.Diluted share count changed +0% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+0.1%/yr). Roughly flat — buybacks ($61M) are about offsetting stock comp ($22M), not shrinking the count. Per-share value isn't being meaningfully helped or hurt by the count.
92% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $111M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 92% of free cash flow. Right at the limit of what free cash flow covers — little room before it's funded by debt or the balance sheet. That ratio has been CLIMBING toward the limit — 34% of free cash flow a few years back — not just sitting there. Counting the $22M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 110%.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$3.47B
Revenue Growth YoY-2.7%
Revenue CAGR (3yr)-2.5%
Net Margin4.4%
Free Cash Flow$121.2M
Return on Equity7.6%
Debt / Equity1.01x
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Fuller H B Co's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?