Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.04, Zacks reports. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. The firm had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB traded down $0.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $131.58. The stock had a trading volume of 2,626,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,128,574. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $139.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.50. Kimberly-Clark has a 52 week low of $124.10 and a 52 week high of $150.45. The company has a market capitalization of $43.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on KMB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $158.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $145.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Free Report) by 74.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,494 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,765 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Company Profile

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.