Analysts Set Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Target Price at $145.67

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the sixteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $145.67.

KMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Argus upgraded Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price target for the company.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of KMB stock opened at $143.52 on Wednesday. Kimberly-Clark has a fifty-two week low of $116.32 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.33. The company has a market cap of $48.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.38, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.39.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at $1,038,976.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KMB. Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.