Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on KMB. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $129.93 on Wednesday. Kimberly-Clark has a 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a fifty day moving average of $131.37 and a 200-day moving average of $137.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. Equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.52 EPS for the current year.

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 $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. 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 3.88%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 64.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter worth about $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 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.