Sfmg LLC Acquires 5,604 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Sfmg LLC raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 85.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,179 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,604 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $1,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the first quarter valued at about $96,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 22.2% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 190,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,483,000 after purchasing an additional 34,646 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 2.8% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 292,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,878 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 23.9% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.7% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 20,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 4,503 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $450,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,709. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $450,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,084,709. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on KMB. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $123.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Thursday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.43.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

Shares of KMB traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $125.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,296,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,909,675. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $123.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $116.32 and a 52-week high of $147.87. The company has a market cap of $42.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.09, a PEG ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.40.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 260.47%. The firm had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $1.22 dividend. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.85%.

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.