USS Investment Management Ltd Sells 33,395 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. $KMB

Key Points

• USS Investment Management Ltd has reduced its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. by 36.3%, selling 33,395 shares, and now owns 58,624 shares valued at approximately $8.3 million.
• Kimberly-Clark's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $1.92, exceeding analysts' expectations, despite a 1.6% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.26 per share, reflecting a 3.9% yield and a payout ratio of 69.42%.

USS Investment Management Ltd trimmed its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 36.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,624 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,395 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $8,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KMB. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 10,975.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,902,050 shares of the company's stock valued at $270,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,877 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2,982.8% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,384,318 shares of the company's stock valued at $196,878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339,413 shares during the period. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter valued at about $181,762,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter valued at about $106,458,000. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 270.2% in the 1st quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 984,695 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,043,000 after purchasing an additional 718,720 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KMB. 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 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the company from $125.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $139.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $142.70.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB traded down $1.48 on Friday, reaching $127.99. 1,442,291 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,302,469. The company has a fifty day moving average of $130.33 and a 200-day moving average of $134.55. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $124.10 and a twelve month high of $150.45. The company has a market capitalization of $42.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.95, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.32. 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 (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. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.42%.

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.