Empirical Finance LLC Acquires 259 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,690 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intellectus Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 0.5% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 73,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,389,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% in the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, Arjuna Capital grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 44.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 21,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,991,000 after buying an additional 6,466 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.93.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $134.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.39, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $117.67 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.29%.

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.