Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Short Interest Update

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,170,000 shares, an increase of 21.6% from the December 15th total of 4,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,120,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $127.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $42.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark has a twelve month low of $117.67 and a twelve month high of $149.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business earned $1.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In related 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 transaction of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,768,367,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,824 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 140.1% in the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 988,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,506,000 after purchasing an additional 576,610 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1,427.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 589,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,284,000 after purchasing an additional 551,158 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,539,000 after buying an additional 503,839 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,625,000 after buying an additional 464,615 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.