Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Given New $126.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $123.00 to $126.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target suggests a potential downside of 7.64% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $135.50.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 1.0 %

KMB opened at $136.43 on Wednesday. Kimberly-Clark has a twelve month low of $116.32 and a twelve month high of $147.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $125.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.75. The company has a market cap of $45.96 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 250.28%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker acquired 827 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,050.46. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 795 shares in the company, valued at $109,050.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,191,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $869,090,000 after purchasing an additional 177,712 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 641,187 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,884,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,345,000 after acquiring an additional 212,739 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,051,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $489,650,000 after acquiring an additional 155,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $437,420,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.