Ascent Group LLC Grows Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. $KMB

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. by 28.6% during the first quarter, now holding 12,710 shares valued at approximately $1.8 million.
• Several hedge funds also modified their holdings, with Goldman Sachs boosting its stake by 41.4% and UniSuper Management increasing its position by 58.8%.
• Kimberly-Clark's latest earnings report showed earnings per share of $1.92, exceeding estimates, but the company's revenue declined by 1.6% year-over-year.

Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 28.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,710 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,830 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hamilton Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter worth $221,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 41.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,351,329 shares of the company's stock worth $334,406,000 after buying an additional 687,868 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 58.8% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 227,196 shares of the company's stock worth $32,312,000 after buying an additional 84,099 shares in the last quarter. Sepio Capital LP bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter worth $207,000. Finally, Plancorp LLC increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 4.1% in the first quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 2,376 shares of the company's stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on KMB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of 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 report on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, July 18th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $144.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $139.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $142.70.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of KMB opened at $129.78 on Tuesday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12-month low of $124.10 and a 12-month high of $150.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $130.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.19, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.32. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.25. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. 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 firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.42%.

Kimberly-Clark 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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