Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Price Target Increased to $138.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $135.00 to $138.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. UBS Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 0.54% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on KMB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.71.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE:KMB traded up $1.22 on Wednesday, hitting $137.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,322,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,192,435. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.38, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $124.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.55. Kimberly-Clark has a 52 week low of $116.32 and a 52 week high of $147.87.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth approximately $437,420,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 74.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,442,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,189,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046,155 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,996,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,815,000 after acquiring an additional 641,187 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 31.4% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,197,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,530,000 after buying an additional 524,632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 552.4% during the third quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 456,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,163,000 after buying an additional 386,497 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

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.