Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Price Target Raised to $144.00

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its price target lifted by Barclays from $135.00 to $144.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on KMB. StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Argus upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an underperform rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $149.14.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE KMB opened at $143.54 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.97. Kimberly-Clark has a twelve month low of $116.63 and a twelve month high of $149.30. The stock has a market cap of $48.33 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.39.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its 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. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.25 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,819,207.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,819,207.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KMB. Optimist Retirement Group LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $814,000. Security National Bank of SO Dak raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak now owns 7,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $944,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Taylor Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $466,000. Sunpointe LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $234,000. Finally, Able Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth approximately $109,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% 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.