Kimberly-Clark Co. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.22 (NYSE:KMB)

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 13th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of 1.22 per share on Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%.

Kimberly-Clark has raised its dividend by an average of 3.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 53 consecutive years. Kimberly-Clark has a dividend payout ratio of 64.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Kimberly-Clark to earn $7.54 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 64.7%.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB traded up $0.05 on Wednesday, hitting $132.19. 1,494,832 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,107,837. Kimberly-Clark has a 1-year low of $117.67 and a 1-year high of $149.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $140.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $161.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group decreased 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.93.

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.