Brokerages Set Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Target Price at $147.57

Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $143.71.

KMB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $151.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.5 %

KMB opened at $127.33 on Tuesday. Kimberly-Clark has a 52-week low of $117.67 and a 52-week high of $149.30. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $42.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $132.41 and its 200-day moving average is $137.98.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $4.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.06 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. Analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the second quarter worth $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 808.0% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors 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.