American Century Companies Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. has reduced its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. by 28.4% during the first quarter, now holding approximately 2.41 million shares valued at about $342.9 million.
• Kimberly-Clark reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.92, surpassing expectations but showing a 1.6% decline in revenue year-over-year to $4.16 billion.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $1.26 per share, indicating an annualized yield of 3.8%, with a dividend payout ratio of 69.42%.

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 28.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,411,253 shares of the company's stock after selling 955,872 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.73% of Kimberly-Clark worth $342,929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 74.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,494 shares of the company's stock valued at $851,000 after acquiring an additional 2,765 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 43,541 shares of the company's stock worth $5,706,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,626 shares of the company's stock worth $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the company's stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 149,525 shares of the company's stock worth $19,593,000 after purchasing an additional 7,637 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE:KMB opened at $133.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $130.43 and a 200-day moving average of $135.02. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $124.10 and a 52 week high of $150.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.25. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $139.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $142.70.

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.

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