Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $134.85.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.1 %

KMB opened at $131.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.93. Kimberly-Clark has a 52 week low of $116.32 and a 52 week high of $139.75. The company has a market capitalization of $44.43 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The business’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.71%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,396,116.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total transaction of $1,396,116.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 795 shares in the company, valued at $109,050.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total value of $342,075.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,101,891.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,395 shares of company stock worth $3,332,776 over the last quarter. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,191,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $869,090,000 after purchasing an additional 177,712 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $762,279,000 after acquiring an additional 944,920 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,996,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,815,000 after acquiring an additional 641,187 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,884,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,345,000 after purchasing an additional 212,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 4.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,051,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $489,650,000 after purchasing an additional 155,066 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

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.