Mizuho Securities USA LLC Boosts Stock Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 68.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,713 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,749 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $6,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KMB. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in 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 buying an additional 944,920 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 17.8% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,269,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,559,000 after acquiring an additional 342,790 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 22.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,934,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,383,000 after purchasing an additional 354,501 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 48.4% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,545,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,539,000 after purchasing an additional 503,839 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 32.1% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,360,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,040,000 after purchasing an additional 330,327 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE:KMB opened at $134.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77. The company has a market cap of $44.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $139.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.13. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a fifty-two week low of $117.67 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30.

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

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $161.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $153.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.93.

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.