HSBC Increases Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Price Target to $146.00

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its target price raised by analysts at HSBC from $134.00 to $146.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the stock. HSBC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 14.72% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on KMB. Evercore ISI upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America cut Kimberly-Clark from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Barclays dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $128.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.53.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $127.27 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $122.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.95. The company has a market capitalization of $42.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.82. Kimberly-Clark has a fifty-two week low of $116.32 and a fifty-two week high of $147.87.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Chapin Davis Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 2,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1.8% in the second quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Arcus Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 3.8% in the third quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

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.