Polaris Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $602,000 Investment in Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

Polaris Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 5,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $602,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KMB. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $204,105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231,501 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 5.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,830,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,615,382,000 after buying an additional 997,397 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 32,568.4% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 978,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,138,000 after buying an additional 975,424 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 2,048,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,274,000 after buying an additional 963,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 331.6% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,107,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,724,000 after buying an additional 851,024 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Barclays set a $102.00 target price on Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kimberly-Clark currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 3,049 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.29, for a total value of $317,980.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:KMB opened at $96.35 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.97, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Kimberly-Clark Corporation has a 1-year low of $96.13 and a 1-year high of $147.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $103.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.62. The stock has a market cap of $31.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.24.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.05. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 170.48% and a net margin of 11.73%.The firm had revenue of $4.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $1.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 84.35%.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is a U.S.-based multinational manufacturer of personal care and consumer tissue products. The company develops, produces and markets a range of consumer brands and professional products, including facial and bathroom tissues, disposable diapers and training pants, feminine care, incontinence products and workplace hygiene solutions. Known for consumer-facing names such as Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, Cottonelle and Scott, as well as professional offerings under Kimberly-Clark Professional and KleenGuard, the company supplies goods to retail, healthcare and institutional customers.

Founded in 1872 in Neenah, Wisconsin, Kimberly-Clark has expanded from its 19th-century paper-making roots into a global household and workplace products company.