Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Shares Gap Down - Here's Why

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $140.07, but opened at $133.08. Kimberly-Clark shares last traded at $135.80, with a volume of 543,207 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $165.00 to $162.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $145.08.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.6 %

The company's fifty day moving average is $139.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The stock has a market cap of $43.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark's previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark's dividend payout ratio is 68.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 6,016 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company's stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company's stock worth $239,267,000 after purchasing an additional 273,813 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company's stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,788 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,428,000 after buying an additional 33,623 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.