Bell Bank Purchases 4,960 Shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Bell Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 13.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,015 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,960 shares during the period. Bell Bank’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $5,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KMB. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kimberly-Clark in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 76.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on KMB shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Barclays lowered their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen lowered Kimberly-Clark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.64.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Performance

NYSE KMB opened at $140.28 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $130.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.48. The firm has a market cap of $46.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.58, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.05, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1 year low of $118.62 and a 1 year high of $149.30.

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

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. This is a boost from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is currently 64.64%.

Kimberly-Clark 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.