Smithfield Trust Co Increases Holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Smithfield Trust Co grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 70.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,571 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,791 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Argus upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.93.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of KMB opened at $136.37 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.13. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $117.67 and a 1 year high of $149.30. The stock has a market cap of $45.48 billion, a PE ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 63.29%.

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.