Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Raises Stake in Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark Co. (NYSE:KMB) by 243.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 73,639 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,195 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Kimberly-Clark were worth $8,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Summit Global Investments boosted its stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 673.1% during the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 179,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,790,000 after purchasing an additional 156,133 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in Kimberly-Clark in the fourth quarter worth about $207,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 50,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,092,000 after acquiring an additional 2,078 shares during the period. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC now owns 16,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,967,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in Kimberly-Clark by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 13,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,637,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the period. 76.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of KMB traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $136.10. 1,907,297 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,226,598. Kimberly-Clark Co. has a 1-year low of $116.32 and a 1-year high of $146.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.05. The company has a market capitalization of $45.83 billion, a PE ratio of 25.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $127.19 and a 200 day moving average of $123.33.

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. Kimberly-Clark had a net margin of 9.05% and a return on equity of 250.28%. The firm had revenue of $5.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kimberly-Clark Co. will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Kimberly-Clark Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Kimberly-Clark’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,396,116.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Paula Ramos sold 10,178 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,396,116.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $109,050.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Katy Chen sold 454 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.24, for a total transaction of $61,398.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $70,324.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,562 shares of company stock worth $2,808,345. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kimberly-Clark from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Kimberly-Clark from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.85.

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.