Nuance Investments LLC Lowers Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Nuance Investments LLC reduced its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 30.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 626,401 shares of the company’s stock after selling 278,820 shares during the period. Kimberly-Clark makes up 3.0% of Nuance Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Nuance Investments LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Kimberly-Clark worth $89,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KMB. CX Institutional raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1.2% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $825,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.9% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 7,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $756,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 9,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,253,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE:KMB opened at $135.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Argus upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.93.

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.