Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Receives $149.93 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $149.93.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.7 %

KMB stock opened at $133.13 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $134.99 and a 200-day moving average of $139.19. Kimberly-Clark has a fifty-two week low of $117.67 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30. The company has a market capitalization of $44.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,267,000 after acquiring an additional 273,813 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.5% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 347,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,409,000 after purchasing an additional 21,339 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 9.0% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 51,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,294,000 after buying an additional 4,229 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 81.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 38,449 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,471,000 after buying an additional 17,220 shares during the period. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 143.2% in the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 6,277 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.