Kimberly-Clark (KMB) vs. The Competition Critical Comparison

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) is one of 55 publicly-traded companies in the “Personal Care Products” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Kimberly-Clark to related businesses based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, risk and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Kimberly-Clark and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kimberly-Clark	11.79%	143.92%	14.21%
Kimberly-Clark Competitors	-5.63%	-66.11%	-0.44%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Kimberly-Clark and its peers revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kimberly-Clark	$16.45 billion	$2.02 billion	11.27
Kimberly-Clark Competitors	$8.28 billion	$1.11 billion	8.93

Kimberly-Clark has higher revenue and earnings than its peers. Kimberly-Clark is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Volatility & Risk

Kimberly-Clark has a beta of 0.25, suggesting that its stock price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kimberly-Clark’s peers have a beta of 0.80, suggesting that their average stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Kimberly-Clark pays an annual dividend of $5.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Kimberly-Clark pays out 51.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Personal Care Products” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.7% and pay out 47.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Kimberly-Clark has increased its dividend for 54 consecutive years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Kimberly-Clark and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kimberly-Clark	2	10	4	1	2.24
Kimberly-Clark Competitors	899	2935	3660	229	2.42

Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus price target of $113.20, indicating a potential upside of 1.40%. As a group, “Personal Care Products” companies have a potential upside of 1.14%. Given Kimberly-Clark’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Kimberly-Clark is more favorable than its peers.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

76.3% of Kimberly-Clark shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.3% of shares of all “Personal Care Products” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Kimberly-Clark shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.9% of shares of all “Personal Care Products” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Kimberly-Clark beats its peers on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

Kimberly-Clark Company Profile

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a global consumer products company that develops and sells personal care, tissue and hygiene products. Its offerings include diapers and training pants, feminine care and adult incontinence products, facial and bathroom tissues, paper towels and wipes. The company’s portfolio includes brands such as Huggies, Kleenex, Scott, Cottonelle, Depend, Poise and Kotex. Kimberly-Clark also provides products for businesses and institutions, including workplace and professional-use tissue and hygiene products.