Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on KMB. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB opened at $129.67 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.41. Kimberly-Clark has a 1 year low of $117.67 and a 1 year high of $149.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $43.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.41.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. As a group, analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 7,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 5,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% during the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,000 after acquiring an additional 78 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.