Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on KMB. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB stock opened at $128.65 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. Kimberly-Clark has a 52 week low of $117.67 and a 52 week high of $149.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.90.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 64.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Marco Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 13,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 50,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,609,000 after buying an additional 619 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,399,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at $319,000. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 32,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,295,000 after purchasing an additional 7,183 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

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.