HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 23,519 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC has increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. by 13.7%, now owning approximately 0.06% of the company, valued at nearly $27.7 million.
• Kimberly-Clark reported a quarterly EPS of $1.92, beating estimates, but its revenue fell by 1.6% compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.26, which will be paid to shareholders, representing an annual yield of 3.8%.

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 13.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 194,743 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 23,519 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of Kimberly-Clark worth $27,696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.3%

KMB stock traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $132.94. The stock had a trading volume of 2,123,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,331,380. The firm has a market cap of $44.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.33. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $124.10 and a 1-year high of $150.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $130.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.08.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.85 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. The business's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $1.26 dividend. 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 is presently 69.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $139.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price 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. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, July 18th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $144.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $142.70.

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.