Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Downgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

KMB has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Bank of America raised 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 report on Thursday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They issued a neutral rating and a $146.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $141.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:KMB opened at $137.52 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $136.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05. Kimberly-Clark has a 12-month low of $116.32 and a 12-month high of $142.20.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The company’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Doug Cunningham sold 3,833 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.82, for a total value of $524,431.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Doug Cunningham sold 3,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.82, for a total value of $524,431.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 454 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.24, for a total transaction of $61,398.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,324.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,395 shares of company stock valued at $3,332,776 in the last 90 days. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rise Advisors LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 90.9% during the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.