Kimberly-Clark's (KMB) "Outperform" Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $165.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $158.00 price target (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $146.31.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE:KMB traded up $2.98 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $142.68. 2,108,241 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,131,823. The company's 50 day moving average price is $139.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. Kimberly-Clark has a 52-week low of $124.10 and a 52-week high of $150.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,605,079,000 after purchasing an additional 4,603,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,589,967 shares of the company's stock worth $1,387,709,000 after purchasing an additional 529,223 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,473,459 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,113,444,000 after buying an additional 797,953 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,529,108 shares of the company's stock valued at $986,616,000 after buying an additional 417,118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,653,751 shares of the company's stock worth $740,868,000 after buying an additional 1,015,141 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.