Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Thursday.

A number of other research firms have also commented on KMB. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $123.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.43.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $123.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $123.75 and a 200-day moving average of $122.18. Kimberly-Clark has a 52-week low of $116.32 and a 52-week high of $147.87. The stock has a market cap of $41.75 billion, a PE ratio of 23.83, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 260.47%. The business had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 6.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $450,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,709. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker acquired 827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $96,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 22.2% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 190,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,483,000 after buying an additional 34,646 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 292,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,066,000 after buying an additional 7,878 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 23.9% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 28.7% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,485,000 after acquiring an additional 4,503 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.