Kimberly-Clark’s (KMB) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada restated their outperform rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $165.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.93.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $135.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $142.94 and a 200-day moving average of $138.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $45.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.39. Kimberly-Clark has a 52-week low of $116.63 and a 52-week high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The business had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.29%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.