HSBC Increases Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Price Target to $150.00

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its target price hoisted by analysts at HSBC from $146.00 to $150.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the stock. HSBC’s price target points to a potential upside of 9.10% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on KMB. Evercore ISI raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $134.21.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE KMB traded up $1.45 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $137.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,548,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,196,642. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $124.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.55. The firm has a market cap of $46.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94. Kimberly-Clark has a 52 week low of $116.32 and a 52 week high of $147.87.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 260.47% and a net margin of 8.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.1% during the first quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 38.5% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 385,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,815,000 after buying an additional 107,073 shares in the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 14.2% in the first quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 140,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,158,000 after buying an additional 17,423 shares during the period. Busey Bank increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.4% during the first quarter. Busey Bank now owns 4,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $601,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter worth $216,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.