Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Raised to “Outperform” at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has $165.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $126.00.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on KMB. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $137.85.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of KMB stock opened at $136.82 on Monday. Kimberly-Clark has a fifty-two week low of $116.32 and a fifty-two week high of $139.75. The stock has a market cap of $46.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total value of $342,075.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,101,891.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total transaction of $342,075.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,101,891.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 454 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.24, for a total value of $61,398.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 520 shares in the company, valued at $70,324.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,395 shares of company stock valued at $3,332,776 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,191,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $869,090,000 after acquiring an additional 177,712 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,279,000 after purchasing an additional 944,920 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,996,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,815,000 after purchasing an additional 641,187 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,884,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,345,000 after purchasing an additional 212,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,051,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $489,650,000 after purchasing an additional 155,066 shares in the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is 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.