Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Hits Expectations

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50, Zacks reports. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 1.5 %

KMB traded down $1.92 on Tuesday, hitting $129.49. The company had a trading volume of 3,388,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,044,285. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $131.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.49. Kimberly-Clark has a 12-month low of $117.67 and a 12-month high of $149.30. The company has a market cap of $43.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.89%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $143.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.