SWS Partners Buys 319 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

SWS Partners grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,741 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the quarter. SWS Partners’ holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 5,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% during the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.7% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 2,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KMB shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $357,420. This trade represents a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $143.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.00, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $131.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.49. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $122.98 and a 1-year high of $149.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. 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 dividend yield of 3.51%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.75%.

Kimberly-Clark 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.