Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB stock opened at $132.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. Kimberly-Clark has a 12 month low of $117.93 and a 12 month high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. Analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 66.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.