Analysts Set Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Price Target at $144.14

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $145.67.

KMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.7 %

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $140.85 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.40. Kimberly-Clark has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $145.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59. The company has a market cap of $47.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.37.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.25. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.71%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total value of $5,331,392.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Doug Cunningham sold 1,040 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.86, for a total transaction of $142,334.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,833 shares in the company, valued at $524,584.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,072 shares of company stock valued at $6,340,233 in the last 90 days. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 926.3% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 90.9% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.