Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Grows Stock Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,267 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 216 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 85.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 14,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,110,000 after purchasing an additional 6,847 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 818,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,388,000 after purchasing an additional 11,937 shares in the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter worth $214,000. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 23.7% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % 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. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on KMB shares. StockNews.com raised Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. 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 note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (down previously 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 assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $140.07 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $123.02 and a 12 month high of $150.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $133.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.53. The firm has a market cap of $46.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. 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 announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.75%.

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.