JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Price Target to $135.00

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) had its target price lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $123.00 to $135.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the stock.

KMB has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $111.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Kimberly-Clark from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and increased their price target for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $145.67.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.4 %

KMB opened at $141.06 on Monday. Kimberly-Clark has a one year low of $116.32 and a one year high of $145.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $137.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.05.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $5.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 237.13% and a net margin of 11.28%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 6,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.59, for a total value of $866,420.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,562,467.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Kimberly-Clark news, insider Doug Cunningham sold 3,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.82, for a total transaction of $524,431.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 6,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.59, for a total value of $866,420.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,649 shares in the company, valued at $4,562,467.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,763 shares of company stock worth $1,875,261 over the last 90 days. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 926.3% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 90.9% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 210 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.