Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $144.21, but opened at $137.05. Kimberly-Clark shares last traded at $138.52, with a volume of 657,234 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus upgraded Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $149.93.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.6 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59. The company has a market cap of $46.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $143.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.66.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $762,279,000 after buying an additional 944,920 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 17.8% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,269,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,559,000 after purchasing an additional 342,790 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 22.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,383,000 after purchasing an additional 354,501 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,720,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,093,000 after buying an additional 48,103 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,539,000 after acquiring an additional 503,839 shares during the period. 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.