Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $149.14.

KMB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB stock opened at $142.25 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $142.59 and a 200-day moving average of $137.79. The company has a market cap of $47.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59. Kimberly-Clark has a 52 week low of $116.63 and a 52 week high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The business’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 72.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at $1,038,976.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CX Institutional lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $825,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 0.9% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 7,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% during the first quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 10,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% in the first quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.9% in the second quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,253,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets personal care and consumer tissue products in the United States. It operates through three segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional. The company’s Personal Care segment offers disposable diapers, training and youth pants, swimpants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, reusable underwear, and other related products under the Huggies, Pull-Ups, Little Swimmers, GoodNites, DryNites, Sweety, Kotex, U by Kotex, Intimus, Thinx, Poise, Depend, Plenitud, Softex, and other brand names.