#7 - Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB)
The last, but certainly not the least inflation-busting stock is consumer staples giant Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE: KMB). An oft-mentioned comment that bears repeating is that at any given time, you probably have several Kimberly-Clark products in your home. The brand’s portfolio is that broad-reaching.
And that portfolio, which includes names such as Huggies diapers and Kleenex tissues, comes with pricing power. That pricing power shows up on the company’s bottom line which has continued to show year-over-year growth despite the impact of inflation on consumers. Additionally, the company continues to increase its free cash flow and pay down its debt.
Those are the attributes of a “forever” stock, but it’s also one that investors can buy for growth in the coming years. Investors are also buying a Dividend King that currently has a yield of 4.03%. Plus, as of January 2025, KMB stock trades at around 17.4 forward earnings which is a slight discount to the Consumer Staples sector average of 20.5x.
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.
Read More - Current Price
- $126.50
- Consensus Rating
- Hold
- Ratings Breakdown
- 5 Buy Ratings, 8 Hold Ratings, 2 Sell Ratings.
- Consensus Price Target
- $143.71 (13.6% Upside)
With many investors piling money into artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, buying defensive stocks may seem like you're missing an opportunity. To be clear, we're not advocating you ignore the growth possibilities that may come from AI.
However, if the rate of inflation remains above the Federal Reserve's preferred target of 2%, you'll want to position yourself in stocks that can provide a hedge against that inflation.
That's what defensive stocks do very well. Because consumers tend to buy the products made by these companies regardless of the state of the economy, the companies tend to have pricing power, which helps both their revenue and their profit.
That's why it could make sense for you to have some protection in your portfolio. Every investor needs to perform their own due diligence. But to get you started, we've made a brief case for why these defensive stocks are likely to rise even if the inflation rate stays above the Fed's target rate.
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