Public Sector Pension Investment Board Purchases 5,434 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 72.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,928 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,434 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,787,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC increased 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 valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the first quarter valued at $27,000. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 333.3% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $142.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.16, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.39. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.83. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $116.32 and a 52-week high of $149.30.

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

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.71%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,038,976.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on KMB. Argus upgraded Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America raised Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. StockNews.com cut Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.67.

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.