Short Interest in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Declines By 21.8%

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,080,000 shares, a decrease of 21.8% from the February 28th total of 5,220,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on KMB. Barclays boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen downgraded 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.85.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

KMB stock traded up $1.56 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $142.27. 1,974,060 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,137,648. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $136.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.18 billion, a PE ratio of 18.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. Kimberly-Clark has a 52 week low of $123.84 and a 52 week high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the company’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This represents a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 76.29% of the stock is 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.