Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Short Interest Update

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,170,000 shares, an increase of 21.6% from the December 15th total of 4,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,120,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB stock opened at $127.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark has a 1-year low of $117.67 and a 1-year high of $149.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.98.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,768,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,824 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,060,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,431,443,000 after buying an additional 358,926 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,092,388,000 after purchasing an additional 206,671 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,625,000 after buying an additional 464,615 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,712,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,900,000 after acquiring an additional 20,953 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $175.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.71.

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.