Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Now Covered by Analysts at BNP Paribas

Equities research analysts at BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 5.47% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented 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, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.64.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE KMB opened at $138.43 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05. Kimberly-Clark has a 52 week low of $116.32 and a 52 week high of $142.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $135.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.21.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 250.28%. The company had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,396,116.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,396,116.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 454 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.24, for a total transaction of $61,398.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,324.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,395 shares of company stock worth $3,332,776 in the last 90 days. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KMB. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 45.3% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 122.5% in the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 16,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 33.0% in the 3rd quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 3,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 9,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 672 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, 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.