Vista Investment Partners LLC Makes New $205,000 Investment in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Vista Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 926.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Accordant Advisory Group Inc bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 333.3% in the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.67.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at $1,038,976.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total value of $5,331,392.58. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,819,207.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB stock traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $142.46. 1,552,616 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,185,107. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $116.32 and a 12-month high of $145.62. The company has a market capitalization of $47.97 billion, a PE ratio of 26.19, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $139.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $132.00.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 89.71%.

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.