Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. TD Cowen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $132.79 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $129.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.53. The company has a market cap of $44.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. Kimberly-Clark has a 1 year low of $117.93 and a 1 year high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.