Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB)

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 10,715 call options on the company. This is an increase of 58% compared to the average volume of 6,801 call options.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 1.5%

KMB traded down $1.61 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $106.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,634,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,909,360. Kimberly-Clark has a 1 year low of $99.22 and a 1 year high of $150.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $113.91 and its 200-day moving average is $125.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.61.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 184.87% and a net margin of 12.87%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be paid a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KMB. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $118.00 to $113.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Argus raised Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $120.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $129.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,435,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,212,942,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200,011 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter valued at approximately $556,114,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 350.2% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,583,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231,501 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,830,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,615,382,000 after acquiring an additional 997,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 32,568.4% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 978,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,138,000 after acquiring an additional 975,424 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

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.