Certior Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Certior Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 2,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 6,016 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,267,000 after purchasing an additional 273,813 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,428,000 after buying an additional 33,623 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on KMB shares. TD Cowen downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.85.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $137.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $137.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.91. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $123.84 and a 12 month high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results 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%. Analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost 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 3.66%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 66.75%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $357,420. The trade was a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Profile

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.