Annex Advisory Services LLC Grows Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,464 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.5 %

KMB opened at $127.33 on Tuesday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a one year low of $117.67 and a one year high of $149.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $132.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.98. 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 (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at $702,417.53. This represents a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KMB. Barclays dropped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $151.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.71.

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.