Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $144.21, but opened at $137.05. Kimberly-Clark shares last traded at $138.52, with a volume of 657,234 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMB has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Kimberly-Clark from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Argus raised shares of Kimberly-Clark to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $167.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.14.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 4.0 %

The company has a market cap of $46.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.59, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $143.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.59.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $5.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.10 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 223.55% and a net margin of 11.28%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. Research analysts predict that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $1.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 89.71%.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,819,207.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jeffrey P. Melucci sold 37,699 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total transaction of $5,331,392.58. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,935 shares in the company, valued at $2,819,207.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Gonzalo Uribe sold 1,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $250,695.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,038,976.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CX Institutional raised its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $825,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 0.9% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 7,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc raised its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 10,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. My Legacy Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Kimberly-Clark by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

About Kimberly-Clark

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.