Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) in a report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $146.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $141.64.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE KMB opened at $139.70 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.38. Kimberly-Clark has a one year low of $116.32 and a one year high of $142.20.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. The firm 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%. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 795 shares in the company, valued at $109,050.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Katy Chen sold 454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.24, for a total transaction of $61,398.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,324.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 795 shares in the company, valued at $109,050.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,395 shares of company stock worth $3,332,776 over the last 90 days. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position 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 worth $762,279,000 after acquiring an additional 944,920 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 14.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,996,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,815,000 after acquiring an additional 641,187 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,884,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,345,000 after acquiring an additional 212,739 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth approximately $437,420,000. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in Kimberly-Clark by 17.8% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,269,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,559,000 after acquiring an additional 342,790 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is 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.