Townsquare Capital LLC Acquires 4,110 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 47,484 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,110 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $6,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KMB. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 1st quarter valued at about $208,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter valued at approximately $146,000. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 1st quarter worth $20,659,000. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 18.4% in the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 24,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,224,000 after acquiring an additional 3,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 207.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 208,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,033,000 after acquiring an additional 141,073 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on KMB. 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 research report on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.93.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

KMB opened at $139.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $46.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $138.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.21.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

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.