Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Position Lifted by Swedbank AB

Swedbank AB raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 171,142 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,034 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned 0.05% of Kimberly-Clark worth $24,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KMB. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 7.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 213,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,321,000 after buying an additional 14,617 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,030,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,060,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,431,443,000 after purchasing an additional 358,926 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 70.7% in the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 11,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,646,000 after purchasing an additional 4,791 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 17.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 66,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,468,000 after purchasing an additional 10,024 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $139.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $138.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.19. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.93.

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.