Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Stock Price

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $138.00 to $144.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on KMB. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen cut Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $158.00 target price (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $144.85.

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Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $0.91 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $141.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 596,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,132,261. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. Kimberly-Clark has a fifty-two week low of $123.84 and a fifty-two week high of $150.45. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $136.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.92. 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 (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 2,553 shares of the company's stock, valued at $357,420. This represents a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KMB. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,785,000 after purchasing an additional 7,729 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 94,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,446,000 after acquiring an additional 10,283 shares during the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at about $142,000. Probity Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $223,000. Finally, Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 1,935 shares of the company's stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.