Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Hold" from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $147.57.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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 research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB stock traded up $0.79 on Tuesday, reaching $126.22. The stock had a trading volume of 1,779,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,934,139. Kimberly-Clark has a 12 month low of $117.67 and a 12 month high of $149.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.41. The firm's 50-day moving average is $132.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.31.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 2.2% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 19,231 shares of the company's stock worth $2,658,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 94.7% in the 2nd quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 6,516 shares of the company's stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 3,169 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 5.0% in the second quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,245 shares of the company's stock valued at $863,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 22.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,655 shares of the company's stock worth $267,383,000 after purchasing an additional 354,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Summit Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 8.6% in the second quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 2,337 shares of the company's stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

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.