Coston McIsaac & Partners Raises Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Coston McIsaac & Partners grew its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,110 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,799 shares during the period. Kimberly-Clark makes up 1.5% of Coston McIsaac & Partners’ portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Coston McIsaac & Partners’ holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $4,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,062 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 24,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,967,000 after purchasing an additional 6,501 shares during the period. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 120.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank now owns 3,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 1,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 56.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 54,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,557,000 after purchasing an additional 19,555 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KMB shares. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:KMB traded down $1.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $138.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,428,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,077,578. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $46.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $135.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.53. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52 week low of $116.32 and a 52 week high of $142.20.

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

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total transaction of $342,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,101,891.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total transaction of $1,396,116.26. Following the sale, the insider now owns 795 shares of the company’s stock, 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, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total transaction of $342,075.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,101,891.99. 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 corporate insiders.

Kimberly-Clark Profile

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.