Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Issues Earnings Results, Meets Expectations

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50, Zacks reports. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $129.49 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83. Kimberly-Clark has a 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30. The firm has a market cap of $43.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.49.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KMB shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.71.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.