Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) Trading Up 4.7% – What’s Next?

Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB)’s stock price rose 4.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $98.66 and last traded at $98.9490. Approximately 3,734,679 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 5,327,527 shares. The stock had previously closed at $94.47.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.93.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 4.9%

The firm has a market capitalization of $32.90 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $97.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.38, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.93 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 152.79% and a net margin of 12.80%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.93 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $1.28 per share. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 80.38%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 4,095 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total transaction of $401,310.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 1,596 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.34, for a total value of $152,162.64. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at $797,233.08. This trade represents a 16.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 7,096 shares of company stock worth $689,687 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. CrossGen Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 96.6% during the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 285 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Company Profile

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.