Spring Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Spring Capital Management LLC cut its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,246 shares of the company’s stock after selling 119 shares during the quarter. Kimberly-Clark makes up approximately 2.2% of Spring Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Spring Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 123,302.7% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,430,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $601,394,000 after purchasing an additional 4,426,568 shares in the last quarter. Cowa LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the first quarter valued at about $54,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at about $441,478,000. Imprint Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 13,781.2% during the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 2,763,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $276,361,000 after acquiring an additional 2,743,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.7% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 29,102,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,017,895,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312,765 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,084,709. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,709. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $128.48 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.95. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $116.32 and a 12 month high of $147.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.29 billion, a PE ratio of 24.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 260.47%. The firm had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upgraded Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $128.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.53.

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.