Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB Stock Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management cut its Kimberly-Clark stake by 19% in the third quarter, selling 10,687 shares and retaining 45,687 shares valued at approximately $4.45 million. Institutional investors collectively own 76.29% of KMB.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: the consensus rating is “Hold”, with an average price target of $116.50. Several firms recently lowered their price targets, while Zacks Research downgraded the stock to “Strong Sell.”
• Kimberly-Clark reported quarterly EPS of $1.80, below the $2.01 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $4.19 billion. The company pays a quarterly dividend of $1.28 per share, equivalent to a 4.6% yield.

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd reduced its position in Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB - Free Report) by 19.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 45,687 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,687 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $4,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Markowski Investments bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KMB. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $104.00 to $97.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $121.00 to $118.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $116.50.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $112.32 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $102.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.36 billion, a PE ratio of 14.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.25. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 1-year low of $92.42 and a 1-year high of $123.09.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.21). Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 143.92% and a net margin of 11.79%. The firm had revenue of $4.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.92 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th were given a dividend of $1.28 per share. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is presently 87.07%.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation NASDAQ: KMB is a global consumer products company that develops and markets personal care, tissue and professional hygiene products. Its portfolio includes products for babies and children, feminine care, adult care, family care and workplace hygiene.

The company's well-known brands include Huggies diapers and wipes, Kleenex facial tissue, Cottonelle bathroom tissue, Scott toilet paper and paper towels, Kotex feminine care products, and Depend, Poise and GoodNites products.

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