Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.25 EPS

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.25, RTT News reports. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB traded up $0.74 during trading on Friday, hitting $141.81. 1,953,880 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,166,758. The company has a market cap of $47.76 billion, a PE ratio of 26.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $137.66 and a 200 day moving average of $130.05. Kimberly-Clark has a 52-week low of $116.32 and a 52-week high of $145.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,819,207.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,819,207.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total value of $342,075.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,101,891.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,462 shares of company stock worth $7,206,653 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.67.

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.