Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.40 EPS

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40, Briefing.com reports. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 260.47% and a net margin of 8.63%. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.67 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark's revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:KMB traded up $1.74 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $137.78. 3,551,330 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,222,973. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $124.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.55. Kimberly-Clark has a 1 year low of $116.32 and a 1 year high of $147.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI raised Kimberly-Clark from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $135.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 827 shares of the company's stock, valued at $100,050.46. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $450,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,084,709. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 827 shares in the company, valued at $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.