Holowesko Partners Ltd. Invests $20.10 Million in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Holowesko Partners Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 153,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,102,000. Kimberly-Clark makes up 9.2% of Holowesko Partners Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on KMB shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.85.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $140.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $123.84 and a 1 year high of $150.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $136.12 and a 200-day moving average of $135.98. The company has a market cap of $46.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

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.