Ridgewood Investments LLC Invests $222,000 in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 926.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 90.9% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE:KMB opened at $139.49 on Friday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $116.32 and a 52-week high of $142.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $134.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.88. The firm has a market cap of $46.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.64, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.38.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 250.28%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 89.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Doug Cunningham sold 3,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.82, for a total transaction of $524,431.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Doug Cunningham sold 3,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.82, for a total value of $524,431.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total transaction of $1,396,116.26. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,395 shares of company stock worth $3,332,776 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.31.

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.