2,112 Shares in Kimberly-Clark Co. $KMB Bought by Freedom Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Freedom Investment Management Inc. invested $300,000 in Kimberly-Clark Co., acquiring 2,112 shares in the first quarter of the year.
• Kimberly-Clark announced a quarterly dividend of $1.26 per share, translating to a 3.9% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 69.42%.
• Despite reporting earnings of $1.92 per share that exceeded expectations, the company's revenue fell short, leading to a 1.1% drop in stock price during the recent trading session.

Freedom Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,112 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $300,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Pacific Financial acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 176.1% in the 1st quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 196 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Elequin Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $0.42 on Friday, hitting $129.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,785,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,309,663. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.33. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $124.10 and a 1 year high of $150.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $130.53 and a 200-day moving average of $135.12. 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 (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%.Kimberly-Clark's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is 69.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KMB. Piper Sandler began coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, July 18th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $144.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target 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 increased their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $138.00 in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.