Huntington National Bank Grows Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 141,056 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $18,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.6 %

KMB stock opened at $143.13 on Wednesday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $123.84 and a twelve month high of $150.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $136.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.92.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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, analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.75%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.85.

Kimberly-Clark Profile

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.