Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Reaches New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)’s share price hit a new 52-week low on Monday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $155.00 to $150.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Kimberly-Clark traded as low as $123.82 and last traded at $124.05, with a volume of 641076 shares. The stock had previously closed at $124.62.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, July 18th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $144.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $142.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KMB. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 74.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,765 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 86,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,372,000 after purchasing an additional 14,172 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 9,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,295,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. United Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.2%

The stock has a market cap of $41.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $129.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 69.42%.

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.