Schroder Investment Management Group Trims Stake in Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

Schroder Investment Management Group reduced its stake in Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) by 24.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 273,535 shares of the company’s stock after selling 87,754 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned 0.08% of Kimberly-Clark worth $33,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,435,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,212,942,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200,011 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $556,114,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 350.2% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,583,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231,501 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 32,568.4% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 978,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,138,000 after purchasing an additional 975,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 88.9% during the third quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 2,048,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,274,000 after purchasing an additional 963,978 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 3,049 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.29, for a total value of $317,980.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company set a $110.00 price objective on Kimberly-Clark in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Monday, December 29th. BNP Paribas Exane reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Monday, December 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.00.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ KMB opened at $100.04 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $103.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.56. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 52-week low of $96.26 and a 52-week high of $147.12. 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 company has a market cap of $33.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.24.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $1.28 dividend. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 84.35%.

Kimberly-Clark Profile

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.