Heartland Advisors Inc. Reduces Stake in Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors cut its Kimberly-Clark stake by 25.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 32,903 shares and leaving it with 97,860 shares valued at about $9.87 million.
• Kimberly-Clark reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.97 versus estimates of $1.93 and revenue of $4.16 billion versus $4.09 billion expected.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.28 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 5.0%, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a target price of $114.93.

Heartland Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB - Free Report) by 25.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 97,860 shares of the company's stock after selling 32,903 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $9,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KMB. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 96.6% during the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 285 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 4,095 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total transaction of $401,310.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 1,596 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.34, for a total value of $152,162.64. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $797,233.08. The trade was a 16.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,096 shares of company stock valued at $689,687. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KMB opened at $101.58 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.98. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 52-week low of $92.42 and a 52-week high of $137.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.38, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.72 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.28.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 152.79% and a net margin of 12.80%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.93 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a $1.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is 80.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on KMB. Barclays dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Kimberly-Clark from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $114.93.

Kimberly-Clark Profile

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a U.S.-based multinational manufacturer of personal care and consumer tissue products. The company develops, produces and markets a range of consumer brands and professional products, including facial and bathroom tissues, disposable diapers and training pants, feminine care, incontinence products and workplace hygiene solutions. Known for consumer-facing names such as Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Cottonelle and Scott, as well as professional offerings under Kimberly-Clark Professional and KleenGuard, the company supplies goods to retail, healthcare and institutional customers.

Founded in 1872 in Neenah, Wisconsin, Kimberly-Clark has expanded from its 19th-century paper-making roots into a global household and workplace products company.

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