ING Groep NV Boosts Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

ING Groep NV boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,018 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 340 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $10,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,279,000 after acquiring an additional 944,920 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,269,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,559,000 after purchasing an additional 342,790 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 22.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,383,000 after acquiring an additional 354,501 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,539,000 after purchasing an additional 503,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 32.1% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,360,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,040,000 after purchasing an additional 330,327 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $131.68 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $117.67 and a 12 month high of $149.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $140.08 and a 200-day moving average of $139.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The company has a market capitalization of $43.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.40.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Argus raised Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.93.

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.