Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Announces Dividend Increase – $1.26 Per Share

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of 1.26 per share on Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22.

Kimberly-Clark has raised its dividend by an average of 2.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 35 consecutive years. Kimberly-Clark has a payout ratio of 63.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Kimberly-Clark to earn $7.60 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 66.3%.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE KMB opened at $129.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $43.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark has a one year low of $117.67 and a one year high of $149.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $131.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.41.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on KMB. Barclays reduced their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated 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 boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.