Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,110,000 shares, an increase of 13.3% from the May 31st total of 4,510,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was 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 approximately $109,050.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,396,116.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.24, for a total value of $61,398.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,324.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,395 shares of company stock worth $3,332,776. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the first quarter worth $252,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 60.6% during the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 983 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 7.1% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.6% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 698,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,087,000 after acquiring an additional 37,108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter valued at $67,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB stock traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $138.87. The company had a trading volume of 525,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,150,594. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $135.86 and a 200-day moving average of $127.56. The company has a market capitalization of $46.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.37. Kimberly-Clark has a 12-month low of $116.32 and a 12-month high of $142.20.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 89.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America raised Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Evercore ISI raised Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.64.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.