Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Meets Estimates

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50, Zacks reports. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $131.27 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $131.85 and its 200 day moving average is $137.56. The company has a market cap of $43.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Kimberly-Clark has a 1 year low of $117.67 and a 1 year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is a positive change 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 3.84%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $151.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays decreased 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 note on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.71.

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.