Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $144.85.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.6 %

KMB opened at $145.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.23, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $137.46 and its 200-day moving average is $136.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. Kimberly-Clark has a 52-week low of $123.84 and a 52-week high of $150.45.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.26 dividend. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.75%.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.