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

Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $140.07, but opened at $133.08. Kimberly-Clark shares last traded at $135.80, with a volume of 543,207 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on KMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. TD Cowen cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $134.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.31.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Down 1.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. The company has a market capitalization of $45.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $139.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $135.67.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 10,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,528,158.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,088,520. This represents a 58.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kimberly-Clark

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aspire Private Capital LLC raised its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 10.6% during the first quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 6,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $943,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC grew its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 10,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,550,000 after buying an additional 859 shares during the last quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.2% during the first quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Rockline Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 4.9% during the first quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,458,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Resource Council acquired a new position in Kimberly-Clark during the 1st quarter valued at about $952,000. 76.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.