Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Shares Acquired by Cannell & Spears LLC

Cannell & Spears LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 20,434 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $2,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KMB. FMR LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 572,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,450,000 after buying an additional 17,919 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter valued at $5,616,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter valued at $572,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 738.6% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 79,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,280,000 after purchasing an additional 69,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $142.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $47.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a twelve month low of $123.84 and a twelve month high of $150.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $136.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.69% and a return on equity of 201.43%. On average, research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 66.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (down from $161.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.85.

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.