Kimberly-Clark Co. (KMB) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 7th

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of 1.26 per share on Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22.

Kimberly-Clark has increased its dividend payment by an average of 2.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 35 years. Kimberly-Clark has a payout ratio of 63.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Kimberly-Clark to earn $7.60 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 66.3%.

Kimberly-Clark Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMB opened at $129.67 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $131.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark has a one year low of $117.67 and a one year high of $149.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 12.97% and a return on equity of 198.59%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kimberly-Clark news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total value of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $702,417.53. The trade was a 37.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.64.

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.