Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $94.37 and last traded at $94.5080, with a volume of 1383730 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $96.99.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, March 27th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $112.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $115.85.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.97, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $30.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $102.90 and its 200 day moving average is $106.59.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 170.48%. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $1.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is presently 84.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 3,049 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.29, for a total transaction of $317,980.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Monarch Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $568,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 3,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 37,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,834,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 15,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a U.S.-based multinational manufacturer of personal care and consumer tissue products. The company develops, produces and markets a range of consumer brands and professional products, including facial and bathroom tissues, disposable diapers and training pants, feminine care, incontinence products and workplace hygiene solutions. Known for consumer-facing names such as Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Cottonelle and Scott, as well as professional offerings under Kimberly-Clark Professional and KleenGuard, the company supplies goods to retail, healthcare and institutional customers.

Founded in 1872 in Neenah, Wisconsin, Kimberly-Clark has expanded from its 19th-century paper-making roots into a global household and workplace products company.