Signet Financial Management LLC Takes Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Signet Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 13,476 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,637,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 2.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,191,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $869,090,000 after buying an additional 177,712 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 1.7% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,465,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $866,180,000 after buying an additional 108,050 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 14.7% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,996,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,815,000 after buying an additional 641,187 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,884,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,345,000 after buying an additional 212,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 123,302.7% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,430,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $601,394,000 after buying an additional 4,426,568 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,050.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $120.98 per share, with a total value of $100,050.46. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $450,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,084,709. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on KMB shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $123.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.43.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

KMB stock opened at $125.28 on Wednesday. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $116.32 and a 52 week high of $147.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 260.47%. The business had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.85%.

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.