Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Hits New 52-Week High at $145.68

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $145.68 and last traded at $144.67, with a volume of 260948 shares. The stock had previously closed at $144.24.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on KMB shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $123.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $136.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.67.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59. The company has a market capitalization of $48.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $140.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.37.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 11.28% and a return on equity of 223.55%. The business had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,038,976.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,819,207.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total transaction of $250,695.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,038,976.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 32,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,938,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth $399,000. Significant Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at $324,000. Finally, Monument Capital Management bought a new stake in Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at $204,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.