Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $145.08.

KMB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. TD Cowen downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KMB. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 18.5% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 9,080 shares of the company's stock worth $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416 shares during the period. Alta Advisers Ltd acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter valued at about $207,000. Kennon Green & Company LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1.1% during the first quarter. Kennon Green & Company LLC now owns 21,649 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,079,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,498 shares of the company's stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of KMB traded down $0.76 on Thursday, reaching $131.58. The stock had a trading volume of 2,626,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,128,574. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. Kimberly-Clark has a 12-month low of $124.10 and a 12-month high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.90 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.66%.

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.