Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $140.07, but opened at $133.08. Kimberly-Clark shares last traded at $135.80, with a volume of 543,207 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup cut their price objective 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $145.08.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $43.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $139.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.50.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. 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 paid a $1.26 dividend. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was 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 approximately $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. First Pacific Financial purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

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.