Kimberly-Clark Co. (KMB) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 7th

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of 1.26 per share on Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22.

Kimberly-Clark has raised its dividend payment by an average of 2.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 54 consecutive years. Kimberly-Clark has a payout ratio of 63.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Kimberly-Clark to earn $7.88 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 64.0%.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $141.24 on Wednesday. Kimberly-Clark has a 52 week low of $122.99 and a 52 week high of $149.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $46.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.49.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Kimberly-Clark stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 74.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,494 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,765 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.