National Pension Service Buys 59,353 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. by 6.7% to own 951,420 shares, representing approximately 0.29% of the company, valued at $135.31 million.
• Kimberly-Clark reported $1.92 earnings per share for the latest quarter, surpassing analyst estimates, though revenue declined 1.6% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.26, translating to an annualized yield of 3.7%, with the next payment scheduled for October 2nd.

National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 951,420 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 59,353 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.29% of Kimberly-Clark worth $135,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. First Pacific Financial bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $132.94. 2,123,753 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,331,380. The company has a market cap of $44.11 billion, a price-to-earnings 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. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.08. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $124.10 and a fifty-two week high of $150.45.

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

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on KMB. Wall Street Zen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, July 18th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $144.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.