Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Upgraded to Hold by Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently commented on KMB. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a neutral rating and a $146.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $145.67.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of KMB stock opened at $140.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $47.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.89, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.85. Kimberly-Clark has a fifty-two week low of $116.32 and a fifty-two week high of $145.62.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total transaction of $342,075.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,101,891.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total value of $5,331,392.58. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total value of $342,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,101,891.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,072 shares of company stock valued at $6,340,233 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 926.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 90.9% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Accordant Advisory Group Inc purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.