Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Kimberly-Clark has a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" from 16 analysts, with 1 sell, 11 hold, and 4 buy ratings. The average 12-month price target is about $115.43.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.97 versus $1.93 expected and revenue of $4.16 billion versus $4.09 billion expected. Revenue rose 2.7% year over year.
• Kimberly-Clark also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.28 per share, implying an annualized payout of $5.12 and a yield of about 5.1%. The stock was trading around $100.50 and was down roughly 2% in the session.

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the sixteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $115.4286.

KMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Zacks Research cut Kimberly-Clark from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 2.0%

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $100.50 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.38, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.77. Kimberly-Clark has a one year low of $92.42 and a one year high of $137.46. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78, a P/E/G ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.28.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 152.79% and a net margin of 12.80%.The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.93 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $1.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Kimberly-Clark's payout ratio is 80.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Katy Chen sold 1,596 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.34, for a total value of $152,162.64. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $797,233.08. This trade represents a 16.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, VP Andrew Scribner sold 4,095 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total transaction of $401,310.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,096 shares of company stock worth $689,687. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,846,734 shares of the company's stock worth $4,121,027,000 after purchasing an additional 315,981 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,125,118 shares of the company's stock worth $2,157,746,000 after purchasing an additional 294,228 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,917,154 shares of the company's stock worth $1,202,322,000 after purchasing an additional 299,382 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,322,198 shares of the company's stock worth $836,216,000 after purchasing an additional 65,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 50.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,839,572 shares of the company's stock worth $790,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,628,206 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a U.S.-based multinational manufacturer of personal care and consumer tissue products. The company develops, produces and markets a range of consumer brands and professional products, including facial and bathroom tissues, disposable diapers and training pants, feminine care, incontinence products and workplace hygiene solutions. Known for consumer-facing names such as Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Cottonelle and Scott, as well as professional offerings under Kimberly-Clark Professional and KleenGuard, the company supplies goods to retail, healthcare and institutional customers.

Founded in 1872 in Neenah, Wisconsin, Kimberly-Clark has expanded from its 19th-century paper-making roots into a global household and workplace products company.

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