Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $114.8571.

KMB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $112.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, March 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of KMB opened at $96.81 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.97. The stock has a market cap of $32.13 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.28. Kimberly-Clark has a 1 year low of $92.42 and a 1 year high of $144.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 170.48% and a net margin of 11.73%.The business’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $1.28 per share. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 84.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 3,049 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.29, for a total value of $317,980.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KMB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,846,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,121,027,000 after acquiring an additional 315,981 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,125,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,157,746,000 after purchasing an additional 294,228 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,917,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,202,322,000 after purchasing an additional 299,382 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,322,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $836,216,000 after purchasing an additional 65,619 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 50.4% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,839,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $790,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,628,206 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Company Profile

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a U.S.-based multinational manufacturer of personal care and consumer tissue products. The company develops, produces and markets a range of consumer brands and professional products, including facial and bathroom tissues, disposable diapers and training pants, feminine care, incontinence products and workplace hygiene solutions. Known for consumer-facing names such as Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Cottonelle and Scott, as well as professional offerings under Kimberly-Clark Professional and KleenGuard, the company supplies goods to retail, healthcare and institutional customers.

Founded in 1872 in Neenah, Wisconsin, Kimberly-Clark has expanded from its 19th-century paper-making roots into a global household and workplace products company.