Analysts Set Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Price Target at $149.93

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $149.93.

KMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KMB. CX Institutional grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1.2% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $825,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 7,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,101,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 5,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $759,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% in the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $756,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB stock opened at $139.37 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $46.48 billion, a PE ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark has a 12 month low of $117.67 and a 12 month high of $149.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $138.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.29%.

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.