III Capital Management Purchases New Position in Kimberly-Clark Corporation $KMB

III Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ:KMB) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 26,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,623,000. Kimberly-Clark comprises approximately 0.4% of III Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 74.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $851,000 after acquiring an additional 2,765 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 7.3% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 363,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,923,000 after acquiring an additional 24,698 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 44.3% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 284,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,698,000 after acquiring an additional 87,455 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 11.0% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 3,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 20.5% during the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,372,000 after acquiring an additional 1,811 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 2.7%

KMB opened at $101.47 on Thursday. 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 Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $92.42 and a fifty-two week high of $137.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $98.18 and its 200 day moving average is $100.84. The stock has a market cap of $33.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 0.28.

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.04. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 152.79%. The company had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 EPS. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Corporation will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 80.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on KMB shares. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $99.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $110.00 to $109.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $115.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Andrew Scribner sold 4,095 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total transaction of $401,310.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 1,596 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.34, for a total transaction of $152,162.64. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $797,233.08. This trade represents a 16.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,096 shares of company stock worth $689,687. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.