BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Boosts Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 555,821 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 55,572 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned 0.17% of Kimberly-Clark worth $79,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vest Financial LLC increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 347,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,409,000 after purchasing an additional 21,339 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the second quarter worth about $14,751,000. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.0% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 166,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,956,000 after buying an additional 6,392 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 84.6% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 25,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,583,000 after buying an additional 11,882 shares during the period. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 107.8% during the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 12,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,569,000 after acquiring an additional 6,293 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of KMB opened at $136.37 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 12 month low of $117.67 and a 12 month high of $149.30. The stock has a market cap of $45.48 billion, a PE ratio of 17.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $138.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.13.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.14. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%. The firm had revenue of $4.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $138.00 to $134.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.93.

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.