BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Acquires 24,179 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 59.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,527 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,179 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $8,918,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in KMB. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 944,920 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,269,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,559,000 after buying an additional 342,790 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,383,000 after buying an additional 354,501 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 2.9% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,720,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,093,000 after buying an additional 48,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,539,000 after acquiring an additional 503,839 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $141.20 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $142.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.39. The company has a market cap of $47.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.96, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $116.32 and a 12 month high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 89.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KMB. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.67.

Insider Activity

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

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.