Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Given New $144.00 Price Target at Barclays

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its target price lifted by Barclays from $138.00 to $144.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on KMB. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. TD Cowen downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.50.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $140.55 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $135.86 and its 200 day moving average is $136.09. Kimberly-Clark has a fifty-two week low of $123.84 and a fifty-two week high of $150.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $46.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. Sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. The trade was a 58.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,908,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,221,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.