Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $144.85.

Several research firms have issued reports on KMB. Citigroup cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $158.00 target price (down previously from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th.

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Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

KMB stock traded up $1.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $142.27. The stock had a trading volume of 1,974,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,137,648. The stock's 50 day moving average is $136.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.92. The firm has a market cap of $47.18 billion, a PE ratio of 18.84, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. Kimberly-Clark has a 52 week low of $123.84 and a 52 week high of $150.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,553 shares of the company's stock, valued at $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 572,463 shares of the company's stock worth $81,450,000 after acquiring an additional 17,919 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 32.8% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 63,517 shares of the company's stock worth $9,037,000 after purchasing an additional 15,693 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,244,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $324,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 140.6% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 433,409 shares of the company's stock worth $61,665,000 after buying an additional 253,283 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.