Short Interest in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) Declines By 21.8%

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,080,000 shares, a drop of 21.8% from the February 28th total of 5,220,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 2,500 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 2,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $357,420. The trade was a 49.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Kimberly-Clark by 77.4% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 6,016 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic raised its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 19.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,681,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,267,000 after purchasing an additional 273,813 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 466 shares during the period. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC raised its position in Kimberly-Clark by 20,377.6% during the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 33,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,428,000 after buying an additional 33,623 shares during the last quarter. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 0.6 %

KMB stock traded up $0.91 on Tuesday, hitting $143.13. 1,725,401 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,136,181. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $136.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.92. Kimberly-Clark has a 12-month low of $123.84 and a 12-month high of $150.45. The stock has a market cap of $47.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on KMB shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup lowered their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.85.

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.