Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Sets New 12-Month High at $145.78

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $145.78 and last traded at $145.71, with a volume of 64137 shares. The stock had previously closed at $144.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays lowered 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. BNP Paribas began coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 target price on the stock. Argus raised Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.67.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.2 %

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 has a market capitalization of $49.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $140.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.91.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.71%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMB. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 926.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.