Entropy Technologies LP Increases Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Key Points

• Entropy Technologies LP significantly increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. by 1,368.7%, owning 33,032 shares valued at approximately $4.7 million.
• Multiple hedge funds are also heavily investing in Kimberly-Clark, with GAMMA Investing LLC boosting its position by 10,975.8%, now holding over 1.9 million shares.
• Kimberly-Clark reported quarterly earnings of $1.92 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.67, despite a 1.6% year-over-year decline in revenue to $4.16 billion.

Entropy Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 1,368.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,032 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 30,783 shares during the quarter. Entropy Technologies LP's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $4,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Pacific Financial purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter worth $26,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB traded down $1.48 on Thursday, hitting $133.33. 756,171 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,327,551. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $124.10 and a fifty-two week high of $150.45. The stock has a market cap of $44.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $130.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.01. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.85 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on KMB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $125.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $139.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $142.70.

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.