Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its price objective raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $130.00 to $140.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

KMB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group raised 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, January 29th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.85.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $140.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $136.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.92. The company has a market cap of $46.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. Kimberly-Clark has a 12 month low of $123.84 and a 12 month high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 66.75%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,605,079,000 after purchasing an additional 4,603,787 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,768,367,000 after buying an additional 1,083,824 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,589,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,387,709,000 after acquiring an additional 529,223 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,473,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,113,444,000 after acquiring an additional 797,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,529,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $986,616,000 after acquiring an additional 417,118 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.