Rodgers Brothers Inc. Decreases Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Rodgers Brothers Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 72,525 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,495 shares during the quarter. Kimberly-Clark accounts for about 1.2% of Rodgers Brothers Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Rodgers Brothers Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $9,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,528,158.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,088,520. This trade represents a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on KMB. Barclays lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.85.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $140.73 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $123.84 and a 12 month high of $150.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $136.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.92.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.75%.

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.