Allstate Corp Makes New Investment in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Allstate Corp bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,317,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KMB. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 11,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,559,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,553 shares in the company, valued at $357,420. This represents a 49.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.85.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $140.73 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $136.12 and a 200 day moving average of $135.92. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $123.84 and a 12 month high of $150.45.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.75%.

Kimberly-Clark 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.