Short Interest in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Grows By 16.5%

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,290,000 shares, a growth of 16.5% from the July 15th total of 4,540,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,819,207.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,038,976.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Telos Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 765 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 32,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,980,000 after acquiring an additional 2,498 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 70.8% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. HTLF Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $332,000. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 4,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of KMB stock traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $142.46. 1,552,616 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,185,107. The firm has a market cap of $47.97 billion, a PE ratio of 26.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $139.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $132.00. Kimberly-Clark has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $145.62.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.67.

Kimberly-Clark Company 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.