Crews Bank & Trust Makes New $429,000 Investment in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,768,367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,824 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,060,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,431,443,000 after acquiring an additional 358,926 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,675,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,092,388,000 after acquiring an additional 206,671 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,625,000 after acquiring an additional 464,615 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,712,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,900,000 after acquiring an additional 20,953 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $130.78 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $117.67 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30. The company has a market capitalization of $43.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on KMB shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.