Barclays Boosts Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Price Target to $132.00

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its price objective increased by Barclays from $124.00 to $132.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. HSBC boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI raised Kimberly-Clark from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and boosted their target price for the company from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Bank of America cut Kimberly-Clark from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and reduced their target price for the company from $135.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $132.43.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $125.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $123.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark has a one year low of $116.32 and a one year high of $147.87.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.99 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 260.47% and a net margin of 8.63%. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 6.83 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 93.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total value of $450,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,709. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 926.3% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 90.9% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centerpoint Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 175.0% in the 3rd quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.