Fruth Investment Management Has $2.68 Million Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Fruth Investment Management reduced its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,459 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 6.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 68,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,762,000 after purchasing an additional 4,447 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 7,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after buying an additional 1,280 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.5% in the third quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 0.5% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 82,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,670,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SL Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter worth $144,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen downgraded 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. dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $129.13 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $117.67 and a one year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. Kimberly-Clark’s 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.