Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) Releases Earnings Results, Hits Estimates

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50, Zacks reports. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 198.59% and a net margin of 12.97%.

Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 2.2 %

Kimberly-Clark stock opened at $131.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $43.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.03, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.41. Kimberly-Clark has a fifty-two week low of $117.67 and a fifty-two week high of $149.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $131.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.77, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Kimberly-Clark Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.26 per share. This is a positive change from Kimberly-Clark’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. Kimberly-Clark’s payout ratio is 63.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $144.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $140.00 to $124.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Kimberly-Clark from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $175.00 to $161.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.71.

Insider Activity at Kimberly-Clark

In other news, VP Andrew Drexler sold 3,000 shares of Kimberly-Clark stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.01, for a total transaction of $417,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $702,417.53. This trade represents a 37.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.