Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $142.44 on Thursday. Kimberly-Clark has a 12-month low of $123.02 and a 12-month high of $149.31. The stock has a market cap of $47.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $132.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.56. 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 (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 66.75%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

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.