Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Bought by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 153,501 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,515 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $20,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen cut Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE:KMB opened at $140.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $46.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $118.62 and a 12 month high of $149.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $130.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.48.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. On average, analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.64%.

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.