Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Reaches New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Kimberly-Clark's stock reached a new 52-week low after JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its price target from $144.00 to $127.00, maintaining a neutral rating.
• Multiple brokerages have lowered their price targets for Kimberly-Clark, with Citigroup setting a "sell" rating and a target of $113.00, reflecting a bearish outlook.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.26 per share, representing a yield of 4.3%, indicating ongoing shareholder returns amid price target reductions.

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $144.00 to $127.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Kimberly-Clark traded as low as $118.24 and last traded at $118.53, with a volume of 283378 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $119.57.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on KMB. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $118.00 to $113.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $149.00 to $145.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $137.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 74.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,494 shares of the company's stock worth $851,000 after buying an additional 2,765 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 28,579 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,065,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 29.5% during the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 892 shares of the company's stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 31.9% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 125,323 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,824,000 after purchasing an additional 30,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.0% during the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 21,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,015,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company's stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $39.27 billion, a PE ratio of 15.68, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $128.18 and a 200 day moving average of $131.99.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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