Piper Sandler Raises Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Price Target to $174.00

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its price target raised by Piper Sandler from $167.00 to $174.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. HSBC increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $136.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $143.36.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

KMB opened at $141.53 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $136.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.84. The stock has a market cap of $47.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.37. Kimberly-Clark has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $142.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $5.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.08 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 250.28% and a net margin of 9.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 89.71%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total value of $342,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,101,891.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total transaction of $1,396,116.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 795 shares in the company, valued at $109,050.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.83, for a total value of $342,075.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,101,891.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,395 shares of company stock worth $3,332,776. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth $437,420,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,893,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $762,279,000 after purchasing an additional 944,920 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,926,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,114,000 after purchasing an additional 370,094 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,671,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,740,000 after buying an additional 368,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 277.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 472,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,466,000 after buying an additional 347,778 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.