Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $149.93.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on KMB shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price 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 lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group decreased 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB stock opened at $132.18 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark has a fifty-two week low of $117.67 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $135.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released 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. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

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.