Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Shares Gap Up to $128.93

Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $128.93, but opened at $138.96. Kimberly-Clark shares last traded at $136.02, with a volume of 1,734,416 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on KMB shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. HSBC boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.85.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $124.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.43. The company has a market capitalization of $45.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $1.22 dividend. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 93.85%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $437,420,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 74.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,442,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,155 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 641,187 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 31.4% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,197,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,530,000 after purchasing an additional 524,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 552.4% in the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 456,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,163,000 after purchasing an additional 386,497 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.