Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its target price increased by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $124.00 to $131.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 5.05% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. 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 note on Thursday, March 27th. 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 decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.38.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock traded up $0.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $137.96. 413,437 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,145,529. The company has a market cap of $45.76 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $138.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.73. Kimberly-Clark has a twelve month low of $123.84 and a twelve month high of $150.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released 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 return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. Analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 6,016 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,267,000 after buying an additional 273,813 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,428,000 after acquiring an additional 33,623 shares in the last quarter. 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.