Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) PT Raised to $132.00

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $124.00 to $132.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and issued a $123.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $132.43.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE:KMB opened at $123.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94. Kimberly-Clark has a fifty-two week low of $116.32 and a fifty-two week high of $147.87. The stock has a market cap of $41.74 billion, a PE ratio of 23.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.17.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 260.47% and a net margin of 8.63%. The company had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 93.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, Director Mark T. Smucker acquired 827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 17,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,084,709. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $869,090,000 after acquiring an additional 177,712 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.7% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,465,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $866,180,000 after acquiring an additional 108,050 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 14.7% during the third 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 period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,948,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $601,260,000 after acquiring an additional 144,779 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,884,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,345,000 after acquiring an additional 212,739 shares during the period. 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.