OLD Republic International Corp Purchases 4,300 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

OLD Republic International Corp increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 387,500 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,300 shares during the quarter. Kimberly-Clark makes up 2.1% of OLD Republic International Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. OLD Republic International Corp owned approximately 0.12% of Kimberly-Clark worth $55,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,142,545 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,605,079,000 after buying an additional 4,603,787 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,473,459 shares of the company's stock worth $1,113,444,000 after acquiring an additional 797,953 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,529,108 shares of the company's stock worth $986,616,000 after acquiring an additional 417,118 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,653,751 shares of the company's stock valued at $740,868,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at about $582,592,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of KMB traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $131.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,959,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,206,470. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $124.10 and a 52 week high of $150.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $43.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $134.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.73.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th were given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.66%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,794 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.74, for a total value of $234,547.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 3,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $405,032.52. This trade represents a 36.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KMB. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $168.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.50.

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.