TD Cowen Downgrades Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) to Hold

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) was downgraded by equities research analysts at TD Cowen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $145.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.51% from the company’s current price.

KMB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.57.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB opened at $126.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $42.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $133.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.52. Kimberly-Clark has a 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. Analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,304,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,768,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,824 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 13,720.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 641,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,659,000 after buying an additional 636,882 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,539,000 after acquiring an additional 503,839 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,740,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,625,000 after acquiring an additional 464,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 140.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 662,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,278,000 after acquiring an additional 386,510 shares during the last quarter. 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.