Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Grows Position in Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 67.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,566 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,277 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,846,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,121,027,000 after purchasing an additional 315,981 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 5.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,830,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,615,382,000 after purchasing an additional 997,397 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,322,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $836,216,000 after purchasing an additional 65,619 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 50.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,839,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $790,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,628,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $521,184,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,596 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.34, for a total transaction of $152,162.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at $797,233.08. This represents a 16.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, VP Andrew Scribner sold 4,095 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total value of $401,310.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 7,096 shares of company stock valued at $689,687 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB stock opened at $102.29 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.06, a PEG ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.28. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a twelve month low of $92.42 and a twelve month high of $137.46. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.38.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.09 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 152.79% and a net margin of 12.80%.The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.28 per share. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 80.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Zacks Research downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, March 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.93.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a U.S.-based multinational manufacturer of personal care and consumer tissue products. The company develops, produces and markets a range of consumer brands and professional products, including facial and bathroom tissues, disposable diapers and training pants, feminine care, incontinence products and workplace hygiene solutions. Known for consumer-facing names such as Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Cottonelle and Scott, as well as professional offerings under Kimberly-Clark Professional and KleenGuard, the company supplies goods to retail, healthcare and institutional customers.

Founded in 1872 in Neenah, Wisconsin, Kimberly-Clark has expanded from its 19th-century paper-making roots into a global household and workplace products company.