Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Acquired by Aptus Capital Advisors LLC

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 23.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,304 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.8 %

KMB opened at $134.08 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $139.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.13. 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 twelve month low of $117.67 and a twelve month high of $149.30. The firm has a market cap of $44.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.39, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KMB. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price 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. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.93.

Kimberly-Clark 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.