Barclays Boosts Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Price Target to $132.00

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its target price boosted by Barclays from $124.00 to $132.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on KMB. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a buy rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised Kimberly-Clark from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $119.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and issued a $123.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $132.43.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $125.45 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $123.84 and a 200 day moving average of $122.20. Kimberly-Clark has a 12 month low of $116.32 and a 12 month high of $147.87. The firm has a market cap of $42.27 billion, a PE ratio of 24.13, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.94.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 8.63% and a return on equity of 260.47%. Kimberly-Clark’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 6.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.18. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.85%.

Insider Transactions at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, Director Mark T. Smucker purchased 827 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Tristram Wilkinson sold 3,720 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.00, for a total transaction of $450,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 17,229 shares in the company, valued at $2,084,709. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark T. Smucker bought 827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $120.98 per share, for a total transaction of $100,050.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,050.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 204.0% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,500,000 after acquiring an additional 13,806 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,253,000. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 240,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,103,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the period. Finally, Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,661,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Company Profile

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.