MQS Management LLC Takes Position in Kimberly-Clark Co. $KMB

MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,584,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs now owns 12,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 12,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Allied Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Kimberly-Clark by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Allied Investment Advisors LLC now owns 76,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.29% of the company’s stock.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $120.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $40.02 billion, a PE ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 52-week low of $117.49 and a 52-week high of $150.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $125.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.57.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.85 billion. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 201.43% and a net margin of 12.69%.The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th were given a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 5th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio is 69.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $127.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $139.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $118.00 to $113.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.00.

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.